


The Lesson That Needs Learning

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adopting, Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Falling In Love, Parenthood, Science, Single Parents, Tutoring, teacher/parent of student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-08-27 06:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 41,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8391724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: Rose Tyler ends up tutoring the daughter of Dr. John Smith but seems to find so much more than a little extra cash.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all enjoy this first chapter! 
> 
> PS you can all start leaving prompts for the 25 days of ficmas in the comments of any story I've written, and I'll write them down until I tap 25 :)

She didn't _like_ calling parents of her students into her office, but this was a bit of an exception.  The man she had to call in was a bit enthusiastic about his daughter's education.  It occurred to her that perhaps he himself had missed his calling as a teacher. 

Jenny, the daughter in question, sat before her, squirming.  Rose Tyler, a teacher at Jenny's elementary school, leaned forward over her desk and looked at the frightened girl. "You're not in trouble, Jenny," she said softly, "You know that, don't you?"

She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "Daddy's in trouble."

"No, Daddy isn't really in trouble either."

"I'm sorry, Miss Tyler, but Daddy does his best."

"Jenny, he is doing a wonderful job. I am simply calling something to his attention. When he gets here, you can go and play and we'll just have a friendly chat for a bit."  Rose smoothed her hand over her hair and dragged it down her ponytail.  "I'm not going to get him in trouble, I promise. But you may need to do a little something with your science project.  Okay?"

"Yes, Miss Tyler."

Rose knew that the six year old did not really understand what was going on, and still thought that her dad was going to get into trouble.  Rose sighed and leaned back in her desk, pulling out a few papers to go over for her older English classes. "If you want, Jenny, you can go color till your dad gets here, okay?"

"Okay," Jenny scampered off to color, and Rose turned the radio on to fill the room, low classical music that she had been told helped children in their development.  It also helped calm her down at the end of the day before she got in her car and blasted pop music all the way home.

Ten minutes passed and Jenny did not move from her chair, where she was coloring furiously, and her father did not arrive.  Rose looked up at the clock, and squinted.  "Jenny, is your father usually late?"

"Yes, Miss."

"Ah.  Brilliant," she grumbled to herself, as she did not want to be in the school for any longer than she had to be.  

After another ten minutes, the door to the classroom flew open, hitting the opposite wall, and a man with tousled brown hair and a suit that was quite rumpled, tie loose.  "I'm sorry," he said, "Just got back from the office."

Rose stood and crossed her arms, frowning. "And what sort of office do you work in, again, Dr. Smith?"

John Smith rubbed the back of his neck, looking quite uncomfortable, but not in the way she expected him to look uncomfortable. "You know, I'm a scientist."

"Yes. I am, in fact, quite aware."

"So, you know that I perform experiments." he gestured down at his pant leg, which she hadn't noticed before, and was singeing.  "I sort of had an accident."

Rose sat back down in her chair, trying to move her pencil skirt in a way that was more comfortable.  Jenny stood up and ran to her father, arms outstretched. 

"Jenny!" he said happily, his voice changed completely, as he swept her into his arms, squeezing her tight.  He set her back down.  "There's still a monitor on the playground, love, so you can go and play while I talk to Miss Tyler, alright?"

"Okay, Dad," she said, and scampered out of the room happily.  

Rose sat with her elbows on her desk, her chin in her hands. "have a seat, Dr. Smith."

He did so, sitting down carefully, as though afraid he'd light the chair in front of her desk on fire if he wasn't careful.  He grinned at her a little uneasily and she arched an eyebrow.

"Do you know why I've called you, Dr. Smith?"

"No, I can't pretend to know, Miss Tyler. What is it?"

"Jenny told me about her science project."

"Ah!  Yes, well, I hardly see how-"

"Dr. Smith, pardon me, but I believe that it is _your_ science project and not hers."  She said gently, trying to ease him into the fact that he had, perhaps, done something wrong.

He sat back in his chair. "Oh," he said softly, "I didn't mean for..."

"It's just not possible for a six year old to make a volcano like that, and Dr. Smith, we all know that you are completely brilliant.  I just can not allow her to turn something she obviously didn't do in to the science fair."

"Well, then, what do you propose she do?"

"I can't _tell_ you what to make her project, she has to _decide._ Her.  Not you.  Do something about magnets, or the floating paper clip trick, something that a six year old child can wrap her head around.  Can your wife help her out at all?"

He shifted about uncomfortably and she instantly kicked herself for it.  He looked down at his hands.  "Don't have one of those.  Jenny is adopted."

Her heart plunged into her stomach and she fell back into her chair. "Oh. I'm sorry.  I didn't mean- I just thought that maybe it would be hard for you to lesser the intensity of something related to science, since you're... A scientist, after all."

Dr. Smith smiled tightly at her, "Well, you could help her. That's allowed, isn't it?"

She made a non committal noise in the back of her throat. "I would have to take it up with the teacher in charge of the science fair, but it's possible that I would be allowed. I am not, however, allowed to tutor children this young on school property."  She leaned across the desk at him. "Pardon my language, Dr. Smith, but I don't mean to be a hard-ass. I just know that Jenny wants to win the science fair to impress you and she won't win if she's disqualified."

His lip twitched at her phrasing, but he nodded. "Of course, you're right," he said, "I wish I had seen it. I'm glad you did.  I just thought she would like to have an extraordinary project. I think she deserves it."

"Of course she does, but maybe in year seven, when she's old enough to understand how baking soda works with the rest of the experiment other than, 'it makes it go boom'." 

He winced a little at her tone. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

"I'm sorry," she said, "I promise I'm perfectly alright to be around when the kids I work with aren't involved."

"No, no, Miss Tyler, I'm glad you're not censoring yourself around me. I want you to be honest with me," he paused for a moment and rubbed his hands together. "But she's quite fond of you, and I think it would be beneficial, if you could ask your superiors if you could help her."

She nodded. "Sure. I'd love to."

"I can pay you, of course."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Pay me for doing my job?"

He shook his head. "You said you couldn't have the kids her after hours for tutoring this young.  Well, if you like, you could come over to our home. I think it would work quite well, her being in an environment that's familiar and I could... help out, a bit."

She nodded slowly. "You still don't have to pay me."

"Please?" he asked, eyebrows raising in a way that voiced his concern. "I want to. I've already wasted enough of your time."

She finally nodded and sighed, realizing he wasn't about to not pay her for a service. And if she was honest with herself, she could use the money.  "Sure," she said, "Your phone number is in the school directory.  I could give you a call."

He beamed at her.  "Excellent!" he said, and then his smile fell a little. "I'm sorry for all this. I know you probably have better things to do than babysit Jenny while I'm late for a meeting."

"Jenny is an absolute joy," Rose replied, "She's clever and kind to the other kids and she really, really adores you, Dr. Smith. I think she's quite possibly one of my favorite students. It's quite nice to be around a child who wants to be here."

Dr. Smith smiled confidently, "I've done my best to teach her how important her education is, and I think she quite understands it."

"I think she does too," Rose said. She checked her watch. "I won't keep you any longer, Dr. Smith, I'll give you a call tomorrow after I talk to my superiors, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am, that sounds just fine," he said, and when she stood, he stood and stuck out his hand to her.  She shook his hand quite happily and stepped around her desk.

"I'll walk you out," she said, gesturing towards the door.  Dr. Smith nodded and picked up his daughter's bright pink backpack, which she had forgotten, and slung it over his shoulder.

He followed closely behind her as she left, almost like a puppy on her heels, and she shut and locked the classroom door behind them so that no one else could get back in before she came back to collect her things.  He waited for her by the door, not quite too close for comfort, but close enough that she wondered if he was checking the lock for stability or something else that was ridiculous like that. 

She walked down the hallway of the school, the only sound being the squeak of his trainers and the click of her high heels.  He didn't say anything, but ended up falling into step next to her instead of staying behind her.  He jammed his hands into his pockets as they neared the front of the school. 

"So, you adopted Jenny?" Rose asked conversationally, tired of the quiet, but knowing that she probably shouldn't have said anything, as she wasn't supposed to ask anything personal. 

He nodded and then voiced a "Yes.  She was from Bristol, found on the street as a baby.  The suggestion is that her parents couldn't take care of her, and so they left her."

"That's terrible," Rose said emphatically, her brows furrowing. 

"Yes, but you know, I think it was quite lucky for me. I've had Jenny with me since she was a baby, and I think she thinks of me as her own father."

"She knows she's adopted?"

"No reason to keep it from her. And if she knows that I've loved her from the start, as my own child, than what's the harm in it?"

"It doesn't make her insecure?"

"No. She looks like she could be related to me, so it's quite alright, really."

"Right."  Rose agreed. They they didn't look violently similar, she had the same cheekbones as her dad, and perhaps that was why Rose had assumed that they were related by blood.

He leaned as though he meant to bump her shoulder with his in a playful manner, but then pulled back, remembering it was inappropriate to be playful here. "Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone on and married. She should have a mother figure."

"Nah. No one _needs_ to get married.  I'm sure she's quite happy having you as a dad."

"Well, I do hope you're right. I just don't want her to resent me in the future."

Rose furrowed her brows. "I'm sure she won't.  She talks about you all the time, how smart you are, what good eggs you make."

He sniffed and straightened his tie. "Well, I _do_ make good eggs."

She laughed, and then they fell silent again, and Rose pushed the door open to the playground.  The park monitor looked up at them and breathed out a sigh of relief. 

"Oh, are you here to collect Jenny?" She asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Dr. Smith said happily.  "Jenny!  Come along now, we're going home!"

Jenny looked up from where she had been about to go down the slide and grinned before going down and running to the both of them. She smiled happily up at them.  "Okay, Daddy, let's go!"

Dr. Smith chuckled and reached down to take her hand. "Thank you, Miss Tyler," he offered to Rose. "I'll be expecting your call."

She laced her fingers together in front of her and nodded. "Of course," she said, "I'll do my very best."

He nodded to her and Jenny started skipping as they walked off, and Rose giggled at the imagery of a grown man with a pink backpack over his shoulder and his little daughter prancing along with him.  That was quite nice.  She shook her head, pushing down the longing in her chest for a family of her own, and nodded to the playground monitor before going back into the building.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose put off asking her superior, a teacher named Sarah Jane Smith, if she could go to the Smiths (no relation, of course) and tutor Dr. Smith’s daughter.

 

 

Finally, though, she had to do it, and knocked on the teacher’s door before she left that night. Sarah Jane opened the door and removed her glasses from the bridge of her nose. “Hello, Miss Tyler. How can I help you?”

  
Rose decided it would be best to not beat around the bush when it came to this matter, and said simply, “Ms. Smith, is it against the rules for a teacher to help a student with their science fair project?”

 

Sarah Jane lifted a shoulder. “Well, seeing as that it’s my event, and I really don’t care, as long as they are learning, then no, it doesn’t matter. It’s not against any of the rules. Why are you asking?”

 

She looked over Sarah Jane’s shoulder, not wanting to admit that she had to call Dr. Smith into her office. It made her sound like a harsh teacher and it made Dr. Smith look like something as close to an idiot as he could be, considering that he was actually quite remarkable by any standard. She blew out her cheeks.

 

“I need to tutor John Smith’s daughter, Jenny. He didn’t seem to understnad that she was supposed to complete her project alone.”

 

Sarah Jane nodded solemnly, “That’s actually very common,” she told Rose. “The parent wants to be involved so badly they take over. It stems from insecurity.”

 

“Yes, well, he invited me to tutor her and help her with her project. I told him I couldn’t have her here and he invited me to their home.”

 

Sarah Jane’s eyebrows shot into her bangs, “To their home?”

 

“To their home,” she affirmed, “I was just as surprised as you are.”

 

“And… What do you get out of this, if you don’t mind me asking?”

 

“He said he was going to pay me for my services,” Rose said, “I would refuse, but I could… Really use the money.”

 

“Dear, any teacher can use any extra money that’s coming down the pipe.” Sarah Jane grinned. “The question is, do you want to do it?”

 

“I think so,” Rose said, “Jenny is a really good student, and I think she likes me, so it wouldn’t be painful.”

 

“What does Mr. Smith’s wife think of having you in the house?” Sarah Jane held up a hand as Rose immediately opened her mouth to speak. “I’m just trying to make sure we have no grievances from any member of the family.”

 

Rose shook her head. “He doesn’t have a wife. Jenny’s adopted.”

 

“Oh!” Sarah Jane exclaimed, and then nodded. “Well, then, that’s quite alright. Would you be comfortable at their house?”

 

Rose crossed her arms, “You sure are asking a lot of questions,” she snapped.

 

“I’m in charge of the science fair. If something goes wrong with you going over there, then it falls on my shoulder. I could be suspended if something were to happen to you.”

 

Feeling a bit guilty, Rose relaxed and nodded, understanding, “Yeah. Sorry.”

 

“So are you?”

 

“Am I what?”

 

“Comfortable to be at the Smith household?”

 

“Oh! Oh. Yeah, I think I’ll be fine, actually. Nice people, and I’ll be with Jenny most of the time anyway. Can’t be any harm in it.”

 

“Famous last words, Miss Tyler,’ Sarah Jane smiled, then checked her watch. “I’m heading out. You have a nice night now.”

 

“Alright. You too.”

 

The next day Rose called John from her office phone via the school directory. He answered on the second ring and was quite enthusiastic about it.

 

‘Hello!” He called cheerfully into the receiver.

 

“Dr. Smith, this is Rose Tyler, from-”

 

“I know who you are. I figured you would call. Did you get the old ‘ok’ from your supervisors?”

 

Rose almost laughed at his cheerful tone but managed to remain professional, tapping her pencil against her desk as she spoke. “Well, yes. That is, if you and Jenny are comfortable having me in your home.”

 

“More than,” Dr. Smith said, “Jenny adores you. I’m home in the evenings, so that would be an ideal time for you to come. Do you think you could come tonight?” he fell silent for a moment, as though he was going to let her answer, and then continued, “I don’t want Jenny to get a bad grade because I made a mistake.”

 

“Dr. Smith, Jenny’s grade will be just fine,” Rose reassured him, “Don’t you worry about it at all. And if you like, I could come over tonight. It’s no trouble on my part.”

 

“Oh! Thank goodness. She was quite excited when I told her that you might be visiting us a bit,”

 

“She knows it’s for tutoring, right?”

 

“Yes, of course, but as long as it’s company, Jenny could care less. We don’t have many visitors,” he fell silent again, as though reminiscing, and then inhaled sharply and spoke, startling her. “Is five o’ clock all right?”

 

Rose checked her watch. It was only noon. She had to finish teaching her classes, as all the children were out at recess, and she had a few papers to look over but- “Yes, five will be alright.”

 

“Brilliant! Now, don’t worry, I’ll cook up something for dinner.”

 

“You don’t have to-”

 

“You can’t really expect me to believe that you are going to just eat after you leave?”

 

She blinked. “Well, no, I guess. But I could pick something up on the way. You don’t have to waste anything on me.”

 

He scoffed at her. “Miss Tyler, any woman who can teach my daughter like you can could never be a waste. Besides, I always make too much pasta. I think it would be beneficial for you to eat with us so that we don’t have six pounds of leftovers.”

 

She laughed, because how could she not? In spite of herself, she found him to be rather charming. “Alright, you’ve talked me into it, but her science project comes first, alright? That’s the most important thing.”

 

“Yes, of course,” John said breezily, as though he hadn’t been thinking something else the whole time. “I look forward to seeing you and my daughter hard at work tonight, Miss Tyler!”

 

He gave her his address and her eyes widened as she realized what part of London he lived in. The man had to be positively loaded. How could one man and one child live in a house that proved to be so massive. She swallowed hard and pretended not to be shaken by it as they rang off. She set her phone back on the cradle and leaned her elbow on her desk, face pressed into her hand. What had she just gotten herself into?

  
*****

What it was that she had ‘gotten into’ appeared to be a bit of madness, because the children left at two thirty and by four thirty she was on her way to Dr. Smith’s house as though this was quite normal. She had to use her GPS to get to his house, as she had never been to that part of the neighborhood, so to speak, and when she did see the house, her mouth dropped open.

 

It was a stunning Victorian home, some windows stained glass and some plain old glass. It was two stories tall, and appeared to be cozy on the inside, but it was still quite… Extravagant.

 

Rose suddenly felt under dressed, in her professional clothes. She felt as though she should be wearing an evening gown. Still, she had a job to do, and she hoisted a bad with all her supplies over her shoulder and started up to the front door. When she rang the bell, there was the sound of a child thundering through a hallway, and Dr. Smith opened the door, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans that fit him perhaps a bit too well.

 

“Hello,” he reached out and gave her hand one firm, but gentle, shake. “Kick your shoes off if you like, come on in.”

 

She stepped inside and found that it was decorated rather sparsely for as magnificent as it was on the inside. It was refurbished, quite modern on the inside, with white carpets and mahogany tables. She found that while it was indeed a nice house, it felt nothing like a home ought to feel.

 

She deposited her shoes on the welcome mat by the door and Jenny stood before her, a happy look on her face.  "Hello, Miss Tyler," She said, smiling widely up at her teacher.

"Hello, Jenny.  I've brought loads of things that we can get a look at to figure out what to do about your science project."  She said, giving Jenny the tote bag.  "Go ahead and look through it and see if you can figure anything out, okay?"

"Okay!" Jenny said, taking the handles of the bag in her little hands and darted into the next room. 

John winced. "Sorry about that," he said, "She's very excited you're here, like I said...  Would you like a cup of tea?" He gestured to the kitchen, "You and Jenny can set up shop on the dining room table."

"Sure, thank you," Rose replied, and followed him into the dining room. There was an island counter top separating the kitchen from the dining room. It was a very open setup and made the house seem much bigger than it was.  John walked straight to the kitchen and pulled out a kettle. 

He peered over the counter at her. "How do you take it?" he asked.

She opened and closed her mouth a couple times before she remembered how she took her tea (this was a very, very nice house, after all).  "Oh.  Um, one sugar, one milk, please."

He grinned and nodded at her before he started about preparing the tea again.  Rose blew out a breath and pulled out a chair for herself, sitting down across from where Jenny had placed herself.  She dumped out the bag onto the table. 

"Alright, Jenny, what do you see that you like?  Anything?"

Jenny started sifting through the various science items, and she pouted a bit. "None of these are gonna be as good as the volcano Daddy and I made."

John popped up from behind the counter again.  "Oi!  I'm sure that anything Miss Tyler has will be just fine, don't you think so?"

Jenny pursed her lips and nodded. 

"No, no, it's alright." Rose said.  "Of course, you know that the reason we have to redo your project is because your volcano was too good.  You wouldn't be allowed to enter the competition.  You understand that, don't you?"

Jenny nodded again.  "Yeah, I understand.  We still have the volcano, though."

"If you like we can show it to you a little later, don't you think, Jenny?" John said, trying to encourage his daughter just a little bit. 

Jenny nodded enthusiastically. "Would you like to see it?  Later, after dinner?"

Rose checked her watch. "Sure," she said carefully, "If we're done on time. I don't want to keep the two of you all night."

"It's no trouble, Daddy likes to brag, he'd love for you to see it." Jenny said. 

John colored deeply at that and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he put the kettle on the stove.  "I don't think I like to brag, Jenny."

"Sure you do!  And you haven't had a single person to brag to in a long time!" Jenny said it as though it were some great sin, and Rose burst out laughing.  

She shook her head, trying to clear the laughter from her throat, but it took her a moment to do so.  "Long story short, Dr. Smith, I would love to see the volcano that the two of you made."

John smiled weakly, his pride substantially diminished. "Yes, well, I would like for you to see it," he smiled tightly and gave his daughter a helpless look.  

"Sounds nice." Rose smiled, and turned back to Jenny.  "Now, let's get on this project, shall we?"

And so they began their work, and John began multitasking, fixing spaghetti and tea as he listened to the two of them chatter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already have 6 prompts for ficmas! Thank you guys so much! you can double request if you want, as I am taking any requests until I hit 25.

"Why don't we do the penny experiment?" Rose asked after about an hour of not being able to find anything for Jenny to do as her project. She just couldn't find anything that she liked better than the volcano.  

Jenny looked curious at this. "What's that?" she asked. 

Rose picked up the bag of pennies. "It's a popular experiment in America."

"Have you been to America?" John asked from where he stood, stirring spaghetti sauce at the stove. 

"Yes, I studied abroad there during university," Rose turned in her chair to look at him.  "I brought loads of money home with me, because they experiment on their money there, especially in elementary school. I've just never had the opportunity to do so."

John put the sauce on a simmer and came over to look over Rose's shoulder at the pennies.  Rose dumped them into her hand and spread them into three piles.  "Alright," She said, "The Penny Experiment is a study on how copper is cleaned.  We put one pile of pennies in water, one pile in soap and water, and one in salt and vinegar."  

Jenny screwed up her nose. "But why?" She asked. 

"Because it's science," Rose replied bluntly, and John stifled a laugh behind her. 

"Nobody else is gonna have American money," Jenny said thoughtfully. 

"That's right, sweetheart," John agreed. 

"I like it," Jenny said seriously, as though there had never been a more serious discussion at hand.  "Can we do it, Daddy?"

"Well, since Miss Tyler offered, I'm going to say that it's quite alright."

Jenny grinned widely and then nodded happily. "Okay!  Let's do that!"

"And on that note, I think we'll have some dinner," John said, removing his hand from the back of Rose's chair and scooted off to the kitchen. 

Rose got up and pushed her chair in, feeling awkward at the idea of being served. "Can I help?"

"No, no, you just sit down, you're a guest." 

"Well, that doesn't mean that I can't help," she replied, "I want to help."

"You've been working all day.  And we have made you work longer. Please, let us?"

Rose looked at Jenny and John and blew out a sigh. "Well, I don't think you'll let me try to convince you otherwise, will you?"

"Nope! Daddy is very stubborn," Jenny said solemnly. Rose bit her lip to keep the laughter in and nodded along as well. 

Soon the three of them sat around the table that was too large for three people, plates in front of them.  Rose felt a little awkward, like she was intruding on this family, but John drew her into the conversation, and Jenny accepted Rose as a guest like she hadn't been her teacher. 

"So, Rose, where did you go in America?" John asked. 

"I was in New York briefly," Rose replied, "I was a student teacher in a rural school before I began teaching in London.  Small, but a good experience."

"And you taught the same age group?"

"I taught kindergarten and first grade, and high school English classes."

John's eyebrows raised up into his fringe. "That's quite the spread. I'm impressed."

Rose lifted a shoulder. "The biggest difference is the attitudes."

He chuckled. "I'm sure they are," he said, and looked briefly at Jenny, who was not paying the slightest bit of attention to the adults and instead was shoveling spaghetti into her mouth like it was a job.  "I wish she'd stay young forever."

Rose smiled at him. "I think all parents must feel that way."

"Am I even a real dad?" He whispered to her, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.

Surprised, Rose nodded quite furiously. "Yes," she said softly, "Of course you are.  That child loves you, Dr. Smith."

He blushed a little. "I'm sorry. That's not quite the sort of conversation that you are here for, is it?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I don't mind. I had a minor in psychology."

He laughed, in a surprised and amused sort of way.  "Well, Miss Tyler, you are certainly full of surprises."

"I suppose anyone is, if you don't know them," she said thoughtfully.

"You know, I think I agree with you."

After dinner was finished, Jenny was quite excited to show Rose the volcano. She was dragged rather unceremoniously to the back porch, which was quite spacious and lovely, although Rose could've suggested better furniture than the few lawn chairs that the Smiths had.  

The sun had set, and Rose thought that perhaps she had overstayed her welcome, but John didn't seem to mind a bit, and neither did Jenny, so she let it carry on as though nothing was amiss.  Although she was a bit fidgety from the moment she noticed the time onward.

"It looks great," Rose said as John turned the porch light on.  She squinted. "Are those little action figures?"

"Yes! Waiting to get crushed by lava!" Jenny said excitedly.

"Jenny, do remember that we have neighbors," John said, blushing a little. 

He blushed a lot, Rose noticed, and she wondered why that was. He had absolutely nothing to blush about, not really.  She wondered what it was that made him so insecure about what he did, what kind of dad he was.   She felt her brows draw in worry, now suddenly quite interested in Dr. Smith's psyche.

Rose laced her fingers together in front of her.  "Alright, then, show me how it works."

John picked up a mix of something that didn't look to be the standard baking soda and vinegar.  He uncapped the bottle and scratched the side of his nose. "Oh, well, the two of you might want to stand back."

Rose stepped back and gestured for Jenny to come over to her.  She did, standing right up against Rose.  Rose looked at the bottle in John's hand and asked, "Um.  Dr. Smith, what's in there?"

"A mix of lots of things, really. It's a bit of an.... Experiment within an experiment, I suppose."

She forced a tight smile. "Another thing that would've gotten you disqualified for it."

"Ah.  Yes, I realize that now."  he said. "Well, now it's for demonstration purposes only."

"Oh, good," Rose said, grinning a full smile now.  John offered her one back and poured some of the substance into the volcano.  He then sprinted back and pulled Rose and Jenny back another two steps. 

The following experiment was one that Rose had never expected.  The bottom of the clay volcano rumbled, actually _rumbled,_ and then it rather exploded.  Not literally, of course, but the substance that Dr. Smith had created shot straight into the air.  Rose gasped as a mix of red and orange liquid went up and then started to fall.  John tugged Rose and Jenny back further as the mixture fell all over the deck. 

"Biodegradable!" John cried excitedly.  "The next time it rains, this stuff will dissolve just like that!" he snapped his fingers.  

Rose opened and closed her mouth, at first, unable of what to say. "That is..."  She paused and let out a breathless laugh. "That is absolutely brilliant!"

He beamed when she turned to look at him.  "Why, thank you, Miss Tyler. I do try my best."

Rose laughed. "Does anything else of it needing cleaned up?"

"Nope!  The volcano is a piece of pottery, so it'll just get washed with the rest of everything else."

"Dr. Smith, have you ever considered doing any sort of experimental demonstrations?  I think there would be many people interested in your work."

He made an odd sound in the back of his throat and shook his head. "No, I don't think I'd like that. I rather like doing my work privately."

Jenny yawned quite loudly next to them, reminding the both of them that they had a child on their hands.   Rose smiled sheepishly at John.  "I think that's my cue," she said softly. 

"If you'd like, of course," John said, "Jenny, go upstairs and change into your jim jams, I'll be up soon, okay?"

"Okay.  Bye, Miss Tyler."

"Goodbye Jenny.  I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Rose scratched the back of her neck, feeling uncomfortable, as she realized just what time it was. "It's eight o' clock," she said softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay quite so late. I'm _really_ sorry."

"Oh, I'm not!" John protested, frowning. "You helped Jenny a lot tonight.  I didn't think that you'd be able to find something that she wanted to do, but you did it."  He paused, "Would you be willing to come over next week to help her start on it?  I know that the fair is in two weeks, bu I don't think she'll be able to figure it out herself, honestly."

Rose nodded. "Sure, I'd love to," she said.  "Same day?" 

"If you can."

"I can."

"Alright then."

They walked to the door in silence, and John pulled out his wallet as they made their way there. "So, how much do I owe you?"

In truth, Rose had had such a good time with the Smiths that she had forgotten they were supposed to pay her at all.  "Oh," she said, as she hadn't really thought about the payment. "I suppose whatever you think is appropriate."

"Alright," he handed her a pile of notes that felt much too thick for her to have.  Her eyes widened.  

"Dr. Smith, this is far too much." She protested, trying to hand the money back to him.

He pushed it back into her hands, shaking his head.  "I inherited a lot of money from my parents when they passed away," he said softly, "And, I am not trying to brag to you, but I also _make_ a lot of money. You deserve it, Miss Tyler.  Jenny adores you and you're a great help."

She bit her lip. She hadn't known that his parents were gone.  That thought pushed past all the compliments that he had given her.  She nodded slowly and tucked the money into her purse. "Thank you," She said, "That's very kind of you."

He inclined his head towards her. "Of course. Thank you for all you've done here tonight."

Rose furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?" She demanded. "You invited me here and you... Fed me, and showed me that incredible volcano.  I don't go out a lot, or at all, really, so I... I had fun, I guess."

"Well, like I said, we never have company around here, so thank you for brightening up what probably would've been a quite normal evening."  He smiled warmly at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, I'll see you next week then," she said, and stuck her hand out to shake his.  her hand wrappped around hers and it struck her how large his hands were.

"Absolutely.  Thank you, Miss Tyler."

"Anytime."  Their hands slipped apart and he opened the door for her. 

"Drive safe."

"Thanks," she smiled back at him and left the house, adjusting her purse as she walked to her car.  When she got in her car, she looked up and saw that John was watching her from the doorway, making sure she was getting out of the driveway safe.  

She locked their address in her mind, which was not hard to do, really, since this was a really nice area and she would remember any excuse to go down there.  She pulled out of the drive and watched as John shut the door as she drove away.  

When she got back to her flat, she called her mother and said goodnight, since her mother lived alone as well, and got ready for bed.  It was only then that she actually counted the money that John had given her.  She gasped when she set it down on her bed. She had known that it was a lot of money based on the size of the stack, but it was two thousand pounds!   She didn't know how she had even convinced herself to accept it.  It was just _so much money._

How could a man that young have such a big disposable income?  She blew out her cheeks and got ready for bed, trying to push the thought out of her mind.  This wasn't anything that he hadn't wanted to do, so she couldn't really be angry at him for it. But she had to admit to herself that she found it rather endearing.   _He_ was rather endearing. She ran her hands through her hair and threw herself into bed.  Maybe a good night's sleep would put things right back where they were supposed to be.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Jenny was far more enthusiastic about her science project, and Rose didn’t mind in taking pride in that fact.  She had done rather brilliantly to impress the little girl, after all, and it seemed her father was content with the arrangement as well. After all, he had asked her to return for more tutoring.

  
Jenny was quite happy to begin thinking about baking soda in a way that didn’t explain Dr. Smith’s porch exploding with whatever he had put in that damn volcano.  Rose wanted to know exactly what was in that volcano.  She wasn’t a scientist, but maybe she could understand it.  She wanted to.  It seemed to thrill Jenny and fill Dr. Smith with no small amount of pride.  So certainly, it would have to be something fantastic.     


  
And when the students all left, she sat in her office, listening to the muted sounds of them all playing on the playground as they waited for their parents to pick them up.  It was oddly condusive to relaxing and doing her work.     


  
She was still floored over the amount of money that he had given her. It felt excessive and it certainly was, but John didn’t seem to mind.  She wondered just how wealthy his parents had been and how much they had left him. Of course, she also knew that it wasn’t her business to ask, even if her curiosity was so violently piqued by him.     


  
He surprised her by coming into the school a couple days later, several days before she was scheduled to reappear at his house.  She lifted her eyes in surprise at the knock on her classroom door.  John slipped in, dressed very casual, clearly not straight from the office.  She gestured for him to come in further, and he did, stepping just inside her door.  She sat back in her chair, trying to demonstrate that he did, in fact, have her full attention.   


  
“I’m not staying long,” he said casually, leaning his hand on one of the little desks, one leg crossed over the other, “I’m just picking up Jenny, and she wanted to know if you were still coming over.”   


  
“She could’ve asked me directly,” Rose replied, raising her eyebrows, “I have her in class, you know.”    


  
He made a bit of a face, though it wasn’t quite directed at her. It was more over her head and to the left. “Yes, of course, but she said you might not appreciate the intrusion.”   


  
Rose tried not to feel insulted by that.  She had thought Jenny was fond of her.  Had she been mistaken?  “What do you mean that she might not appreciate the intrusion? Did she say those words? Is she six or thirty five?” She bit her lip when she realized she was being far too familiar with him.  He was not her friend, just because she had been to his home once.   


  
Thankfully, John didn’t seem to notice, or mind, really, that she had so far overstepped her bounds.  “Well, she didn’t say those words exactly. I paraphrased a little.  She may have said, and I quote, that she didn’t want to ‘bug you’,” John said, smiling sheepishly, but not shifting his stance in any way that would have told her that he was uncomfortable.  “But will you?  Come over and help her?”   


  
Rose nodded.  “That was the plan. Did she think that I had changed my mind?” She asked curiously.   


  
“I can’t pretend to know what she thought. She’s just a kid.”   


  
“Well, you can tell her that yes, I am coming, and no, nothing has changed.” She eyed him suspiciously.  “Unless you would rather I didn’t come over, after all. It is your house.”   


  
“No!  No, um, no, we’d like for you to come.”   


  
“O-kay. Then you can tell her I’ll be over.”   


  
“Ah, alright, I will.”   


  
They sat (well, she sat, he stood quite awkwardly at the desk) And looked at each other for a few moments, both having absolutely nothing to say.  Rose shifted a paper on her desk just to look busy before she said absentmindedly, “Did you need something else, Dr. Smith?”   


  
“Um. No,” he said abruptly, then inhaled as if to say something but took another breath and said, “No, I didn’t need anything else, no.”  It didn’t sound as though it was what he had meant to say, but that was alright.  She didn’t expect anything from him, after all.   


  
“Alright.”   


  
“So I’ll see you then, then?”   


  
She tried not to wrinkle her nose at how awkward he sounded. “Yes, that’s what I said.”     


  
“So you did.” he looked back over his shoulder. “I’d better go get Jenny then, she’s waiting in the playground.”   


  
“Okay.  I’ll see you, Dr. Smith.”   


  
“Yes, I’ll see you.” he paused.  “Goodbye.”   


  
“Goodbye.  Oh, wait.  Dr. Smith?”   
“Yes?”    


  
She shifted awkwardly.  “Dr. Smith, I think you overpaid me for my services.  I didn’t want to say anything, but-”   


  
“Miss Tyler, please let me pay you what I see fit to pay you for the services that you are providing for my little family,” he said, “We have no housekeeper, we want for very little…  And I don’t put a price on my daughter’s education. You’ve made her excited to learn.”   


  
“Dr. Smith, you make her quite excited to learn as well,” she told him, leaning her elbow on her desk and her chin in her hand.  “She adores you.  You don’t need to pay me so generously for something she seems to enjoy naturally.”   


  
He lifted a shoulder and looked at her with pleading eyes.  “Let me?” he asked softly, so softly that she almost didn’t hear it.    


  
Finally, after a few moments of watching him, she sighed and nodded.  “Alright,” she said, and then pointed her finger at him, “But I’m not doing it for me.”   


  
He smiled at her, a big grin that did something very odd to her stomach.  He said, quite surprisingly, “I am under the impression that you don’t do  anything  for yourself alone, Miss Tyler.”   


  
She repressed the urge to snort in indignance. “I have plenty of other things to think about besides myself.  I thought about myself all through college, got myself my degree, and from then on I’ve thought about my students.  That’s what an instructor is supposed to do.”   


  
“You might be right.” He said, “I only know experiments and science. If you tried to explain a human being in terms that were not biological, I don’t think that I would understand.”  He smiled tightly, “Now, since you’ll be accepting my rather fair payment-?”   


“Alright.”  She said the word abruptly, and sighed, “But that doesn’t mean-”

“If you would stop protesting.  You could give a man a complex, Miss Tyler.”

She laughed a little, unable to keep it in, and her cheeks colored slightly.  “That’s not my intention, of course. I’m very grateful to you.

“For the money or the company?” He teased.

“Both,” she said without really thinking, and immediately kicked herself for doing so.

John smiled softly, a gentle look she wasn’t used to seeing on him.  “I’m glad,” he said quietly, “I will see you soon.”

  
“Yeah, alright. See you.”   


  
He left her office with another smile but she watched the place where he had been standing for quite a few moments before shaking herself. She had learned about studying people, and she found that although Dr. John Smith seemed quite open and quite kind, he also was very difficult to understand. He wasn’t open enough to see anything about himself. It startled her that he was even willing to tell her about his parents.  Maybe he had done that to simply justify what he had given her.    


  
She swallowed and turned back to the coloring homework she had assigned. There was a point in a woman’s life where she did not want to judge kid’s coloring anymore.  It made her feel awful, even though she gave them all perfect scores.  A person’s creativity should not even be able to be judged.  Why couldn’t they be on arithmetic that she could grade fairly?     


  
She felt like she was at a standstill.  Maybe the reason she was so invested in what Dr. Smith and his daughter could be all about was because she was bored.  She didn’t have a family, not besides her mother, and she only really had a couple friends that she could stand to be around for more than an hour at a time.  And one of them she had dated once upon a time.     


  
Popping herself from her thoughts, she removed the elastic that secured her tight bun in, and let her hair fall around her shoulders.  She wondered when the last time she had been a woman was.  Not a primary school teacher, not a high school student teacher, but a  woman.  Someone other women feared and men desired.  When had she last captivated a man, made him want to stay with her until the end of his days?  Never, she thought dejectedly, not even when she had been with Mickey. And certainly not when she had been with Jimmy, for it had been him that captivated her, his bad-boy persona that she thought she could fix.    


  
But a woman does not belong with a man because she needs to fix him.  Even if it happens… There were a million things in Jimmy she could not fix, could never fix, even if she had wanted to.  She needed someone that was already rather fixed, that could be with her  fully  without fixating on who he had been, the parts of himself that he was not fond of.     


  
She blew out her cheeks and shook her head. This was all so unnecessary.  She didn’t have time to be thinking about men, or about anything that wasn’t pertaining to the students she taught or the life she led.  She would have to accept the fact that she was going to have to be the most boring woman in the world for the rest of her life.  Nobody wanted her and no one would, and she couldn’t even be bitter enough to blame them.  She didn’t blame anyone that didn’t want her,    


  
Being a liberated woman of the twenty first century, she shouldn’t have wanted a relationship at all. She should’ve thrown off the shackles of oppression and strived for greatness!  But she had found greatness, she was quite successful.  Now she wanted a family.    


  
She screwed up her eyebrows at the drawing she was looking at, a pink house with a little family inside.  When had she started thinking that that was what she wanted?  When had she even thought to  think  about a family and a house and a street corner at 2 in the morning?  Of taxi rides and sappy dinner dates where she stays out until midnight because she has so utterly lost track of time in a man’s eyes that she can’t think of little hands on a watch or glowing numbers on a screen?   


  
Realistically, she shouldn’t be.  Hasn’t been.  But within the past couple of weeks, she has found herself realizing that while she loves her friends and her mother, she is missing something. Has been for a long time, maybe.   


  
Blowing out her cheeks on a rather loud sigh, she went back to her work, or ‘work’ of writing an ‘A’ on every paper that she came across because she can’t bear to look for anything wrong in something so innocent as a child’s drawing.    


She came to Jenny’s and smiled.  It’s their house, and she’s drawn herself and her the yard, holding hands. Rose laughed at the brown swirls of crayon Jenny had use to color his hair.  Rose had asked the children to write titles for their pieces, like they would for any other assignment of that nature, and Jenny had titled the drawing “Little Family”. A  smile tugged at Rose’s lips as she wrote an ‘A’ and slipped it to the side.  Perhaps she would show Dr. Smith the next time he stopped into her office. She had a feeling that today was not the last time that he would be doing so.


	5. Chapter 5

 

She arrived at his home again, like he had asked, to assist Jenny with her project.  In her bag were all the things necessary, pennies and all the liquids she needed.  She wasn’t about to use when Dr. Smith had in his house.  It wasn’t really appropriate to waste his resources, and she was quite aware of that.

  
The moment she knocked she heard the thundering of little feet and the voice of Dr. Smith carrying through the house, warning her that he was about the door, hang on, Jenny.  The feet retreated, but slower, sounding almost frustrated. She smiled to herself and waited patiently. 

  
Dr. Smith opened the door a few moments later and smiled widely at her.  He was breathing heavily and his hair was sticking out everywhere, looking rather flushed. 

  
“Are you alright?” Rose asked suddenly, looking at how overwhelmed he looked. 

  
“Yeah,’ he said, nodding violently, “I was just cleaning up a bit, before you got here.”

  
She laughed a little, “You didn’t need to clean up, I’ll just be in your dining room.”

  
He lifted a shoulder.  “Yeah, well, I wanted things to look nice.  The place was a bit of a pig pen the last time you came here.”

  
“I can assure you, it was no pig pen,” she replied, and he stepped aside from the door and extended a hand out.  Rose entered, smiling at him as she entered.

  
Jenny ran out from the kitchen, as though had been waiting for Rose to come in right by that door. Rose supposed she had been, given where she had been when Rose had knocked. 

  
“Hi, Miss Tyler!” She chirped.

  
“Hello there, Jenny.  Ready to get started on this?  The science fair is next week,” she reminded her.  

  
Jenny nodded solemnly. Well, as solemnly as a six year old could nod.  “Yes,” she said, “I think we’re gonna be great.”

  
“I think so too, Jenny. And if your dad promises not to make something that’ll disqualify you, he can help too.”

  
“Oi,” John said weakly, but it didn’t really have any weight behind it. He still smiled at her though, and she marveled at what a lovely smile he had.  She blinked and looked away from him, barely remembering to smile back at him before doing so.  To dissipate the tension that she had created, she clapped her hands together and made a shooing motion at Jenny to corral her into the dining room,  The little girl laughed and pranced into the next room, Rose following close behind, and as a result, missing the look that was on Dr. Smith’s face. 

  
Rose pulled out dish soap and vinegar from her bag, as well as the bag of pennies that she had with her.  “Alright, now all we need is three cups, and pieces of paper and tape to label the experiment with, got it?”

  
Jenny was in the kitchen in an instant, and John stood next to Rose, speaking low as though keeping a secret.  “She was very excited to see you today,” he said, smiling at her. 

  
She lifted a shoulder.  “She’s a good kid, Dr. Smith, it’s not like it’s any trouble for me to help her.”

  
“I can’t help but feel that I should pay for your gas money,” He said, “I didn’t even ask you how far you live from here.”

  
She didn’t want to tell him she lived on an Estate, so she shook her head. “Not far enough for you to worry about, I promise.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her, supposedly not believing her, maybe, but did not say anything else about it.  She looked away from him and arranged the pennies into three piles, keeping herself busy. She wasn’t sure why he was standing so close to her, or why he was still standing there at all when she had clearly changed the topic of conversation.

“Well, if you’re sure,” he said, “Would you like to stay for dinner tonight?”

“This won’t take long, and I wouldn’t want to intrude,” she said politely, though she found that she would actually very much like to intrude on their family dinner.

“It wouldn’t be an intrusion,” he persisted, “If you… I mean, you’re a lovely young woman. If you have plans, I would understand, Jenny would understand-”

“No,” she found herself saying quickly, “I don’t have any plans. If you’re really alright with it, I could stay.”

“I’m really alright with it,’ he said in a voice that sounded more professional than personal and she wasn’t sure what to do with that.

“Then I’ll stay.”

“Brilliant!” He beamed, “Tonight’s a chicken dinner, hope that’s not too bland for you.”

“Of course not,” she said as he walked into the kitchen. She watched as he pulled a plate of uncooked chicken out of the refrigerator.  She blinked in surprise when she saw that there were three pieces there.  He had expected, or at least wanted, her to stay. The thought filled her with a sort of happiness that she couldn’t even begin to pretend to understand.

Jenny returned from the kitchen, darting around her father and placing the three cups and paper and tape on the table.  Rose instructed her to get a cup of water as she labeled the cups with the three things necessary for the experiment.  She sat down, crossed her legs, and set to it, leaving room in the chair next to her for Jenny.

The two of them chatted over the experiment, Rose filling one cup with water and instructing Jenny on how to fill the other two. She did so with the utmost concentration, tongue poking her upper lip.  Rose had a feeling that was a little knack she had developed from her father when he tinkered with something.  He seemed to be a handy man that wasn’t quite as handy as he would like everyone to believe.

“So, you’ll have to make a poster explaining all this,” Rose told her, “So when we set this up at the science fair, you can talk about it.”

“Are you and Daddy going to the science fair?” Jenny asked, not moving her eyes from her task.

“Well, I’ll already be there, you know that. I’m sure your dad will go too,” Rose promised, looking up at Dr. Smith, who nodded at her questioning glance. She breathed out a sigh of relief. At least she had someone.  

“No.” Jenny said simply.

Both John and Rose turned to stare at Jenny. “What?”

  
“I want to know if you and Daddy are going to the science fair together.” Jenny said in a demanding tone.”

Rose opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to even think straight in the eyes of such a question. “We’re both very busy people,” Rose stammered.

“Besides,” piped up John, who was red from his cheeks all the way to the tips of his ears. “Adults rarely drive in the same car to someplace, Jenny. You understand that.”

“You could meet there,” Jenny said firmly.

“Well, we’ll see each other there anyway,” Rose said, unable to look John in the face, as she was blushing quite madly as well and couldn’t quite put a finger on why she was.  She twiddled her thumbs under the table and watched Jenny intently. “Perhaps I should go, I think you’ve got this all under control, Jenny.” She tried to sound cheerful, but she was so embarrassed, and was certain that John was too. What his daughter had implied had sent her reeling and she wondered if it had done the same to him.

Her question was answered as she stood up and John said, “Now hold on. I’ll have altogether too much food if you don’t stay. And… Well, if you’d like to stay, I’d like you to stay. But I obviously won’t keep you if that’s not what you want.”

She fidgeted openly, struggling to keep eye contact with him. Children weren’t blind.  Had Jenny noticed that Rose had (perhaps) been behaving a certain way towards John?  Had she been telling John that she was noticing these things?  Oh, God, was he being nice to her just to let her down easy?  Finally, she cleared her throat and sat down, breaking eye contact with him and sagging a little in defeat. This was not easy.

Dinner was ready after a few short minutes, hardly enough time for her to regain her composure, but enough for her to discuss with Jenny exactly what they would be doing for the rest of the project. Jenny had an understanding of why certain things cleaned the pennies and why others didn’t, and she seemed to find it quite pleasing indeed.  That was the mind of a child, she supposed, always so impressed with every little thing that they hadn’t known before the moment that they learned it.

Rose cleared the science stuff to the end of the table and helped John serve the food before taking the seat she had taken before at the table. John sat at the end, his spot, evidently, and Jenny in hers.

Jenny, being a child, was quite picky and refused to eat the green beans that John had made for them.

“Now, Jenny, I’m sure Miss Tyler eats her vegetables,” Dr. Smith said in an exasperated tone.  

“Yep,” Rose purposely filled her fork with green beans.  She looked back at Jenny and watched as the little girl copied her motions, doing the same.

John let out a sigh of what must have been relief, and touched Rose’s arm in a gentle thanks. Rose had to swallow again before she could manage a smile without her insides tumbling out.  She tried to shake herself, of course, because this was a professional matter only, but it was hard not to try and talk to John about personal things, not when she wanted to know so much about him, about the both of them, and the little family they had created.

She knew that John was selfless and kind, he had shown that merely by adopting Jenny, bringing an abandoned little girl into his home. And it was a lovely home, not a thing out of place, but she had trouble thinking of it as that.  A home.  It was too sparse.  Too barren.  He needed someone to come in here and decorate it before it drove his guests spare.

Of course, he had said that he hadn’t had many guests.

 She thought about that for a moment.  He was a very attractive man, and she was fairly certain that that was no secret at all.  She also marveled at his cooking skills. It seemed that the more she spoke to him, the more she was impressed by him.  And he looked at her kind of like he was impressed with her too, but in a way that was far more subtle, in the lift of his brow and the curious look on his face.  Was she merely a subject of interest to him?  She couldn't pretend to know what it was.  But she did admit that she really did like sharing dinner with him and his daughter. 

 

They talked, of course, and she learned that he was incredibly passionate about his work and that he had almost been a professor. 'I love kids," he told her, "But I didn't think I was well suited enough to teach them."

 

"You could've taught university classes," she pointed out.

 

He lifted a shoulder. "it's not what I wanted, not really.  I'm...  I'm happy with what I'm doing.  This... And coming home to be able to take care of Jenny.  That's what a want.  I think that's what I've always wanted."

 

She felt her heart go out to him.  Perhaps she was more like him than she thought.  She nodded and said, "Well, if you're happy, than anything you do will be done well," she smiled softly.  She wished she could've thought of something to say, but she couldn't.  She was just a teacher, she must look so lowly to him.  Although, she would like to think that she didn't.  She took another bite of her chicken quietly.  She really needed to get going.  There was no reason for her to stay tonight, not without the volcano.  She wiped her hands off on her napkin and tried to figure out how to leave politely.

 

"Well done, Jenny!" John said happily, his voice full of surprised laughter.

  
Rose snapped herself out of her thoughts and looked to where John was looking. Jenny had completely cleaned her plate, all her green beans gone.   

 

She laughed along with John and Jenny smiled, looking quite pleased with herself.  She then let out a jaw cracking yawn.

 

"Ah, yes, time for bed I think," John said, getting to his feet. 

 

"I suppose that's my cue," Rose said, almost glad to have a reason to leave the house without having to abruptly dismiss herself. 

 

"Oh, wait, can you just... You can wait? I'll see you out properly."

 

She sighed inwardly.  Well, there went that idea.  "Okay," she said, nodding, knowing there wasn't anything else for it, really.  John gave her a quick smile and swept his daughter up into his arms. She leaned against his shoulder, rubbing her eye tiredly.

 

"Goodnight, Miss Tyler," She whispered. 

 

"Goodnight, Jenny," Rose replied softly, and John left the room with the little girl in tow.  Rose let out a sigh and quickly found herself bored.  She figured out that since John was going to pay her so much money anyway, she might as well earn it.  Rose stood and started to clean up the dishes, saving the bones that had been in the chicken in a ziplock bag she found.  She started washing the dishes and barely noticed a few minutes later when John leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, one ankle crossed over the other. 

 

"You don't need to do all that," he said softly. 

 

"I don't mind," She replied briskly. "I put the soup bones in a bag for you.  If you boil them in some water it'll make a chicken broth."

 

"You're quite handy."

 

"I suppose so," she said, "But it's good, homemade soup.  It'll do Jenny a world of good, too."

 

He nodded. "Maybe you'd... Show me how?  I've never made soup."

 

"You make incredible food, though."

 

He sniffed and adjusted his tie. "Well, thank you.  But I can not make soup, not for the life of me."

 

Rose finished up the last dish and smiled happily. "Well, if you really want me to, I suppose I could make the time, for Jenny's sake."

 

"Of course."

 

She dried off her hands. "Sorry, I don't know where any of this stuff goes."

"Quite alright! You didn't have to do it at all," he insisted.  "Really, I don't know why you did it in the first place."

 

"I wanted to," Rose said, "It's not like it was any trouble."

 

She told him that she was going to have to take her leave, and he accepted, pulling a wad of bills from his pocket and handing them to her.  She blushed upon accepting them, but he wouldn't let her feel embarrassed, merely saying softly, "I insist."  

 

"I'll... I'll call you?" He asked, "About you teaching my incompetent self how to make soup."

She nodded and swallowed. "Sure.  If you want."

 

"Ah. And I'll see you at the science fair, then."

 

"Okay," she smiled.  She didn't know why she felt so happy as she left his house that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keep the ficmas requests coming I am absolutely loving them!! They're written in a neat little note on my phone

 

She had practically forgotten all about the call.  Of course she hadn’t actually forgotten, but she had been buried in work for the science fair, as Sarah Jane had enlisted her to help and set it up.  Rose agreed of course, because she could never say no to anyone who needed her help.  That was something that appeared to be a good trait, but seemed to get her into lots of trouble.

She was in the gymnasium, setting up a few tables for the children to put their projects on, when the call came.  Sarah Jane beckoned Rose over to the doorway in the gym and she walked over to her, a bit confused.

“Yeah?” she said, when she reached Sarah Jane.

“You’ve a call in the main office,” Sarah Jane told her.

“Who… Who is it?” She had a guess of course, but she did not want to get her hopes up about it.

Sarah Jane cocked an eyebrow.  “Dr. John Smith.”

“Oh.  I’ve been expecting a call from him.”

The look on Sarah Jane’s face told her that she was a bit suspicious about something, but she wasn’t letting on too much.  She smiled, “So you’ve been tutoring his daughter?”

“Uh, yeah, I agreed to do that.”  

“And how is that going?”

“Well, we figured out a proper experiment for her to do.  Simple, age appropriate.  I might be kept on to help her out some more, if Dr. Smith requires my services. I’m afriad his mind is a bit ohead of hers.”

Sarah Jane nodded. “I’ve spoken to Dr. Smith, and I got the impression that he couldn’t dumb things down to what a normal person understands even if he tried.”

Rose laughed.  “Yeah, I noticed that.”

“Well, you’d better go, he’s on the line.”

She’d nearly forgotten.  “Oh! Okay, I’ll be right back.”

She hurried from the gym and in her excitement, didn’t notice the smile that Sarah Jane threw at the back of her head.

Rose hurried to the main office, her heart pounding hard in her chest.  She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous. She had spoken with John before, this was nothing different, and she was being foolish to think anything different. 

She reached the main office and one of the secretaries handed her the phone. “Dr. Smith. He won’t shut up.”

Rose couldn’t bite back a smile at that. She knew he was a talker.  She pressed the phone to her ear and leaned over the counter as the secretary went off to do God knew what. Maybe there was a teacher-parent confidentiality agreement that Rose didn’t know about. 

“Hello?”

“Miss Tyler?”

“Yes.  I was told you were calling for me, Mr. Smith?”

“I was! I am… I currently am.  Um.  Hello,” He paused for a moment, and she was just about to speak when he opened his mouth audibly and said, “I had a couple of questions.”

“Oh, well then, go on.”

“First of all, what time is the science fair?”

“You can be here as early as ten.”

“In the morning?”

“Yes, Dr. Smith. We don’t typically keep six year olds late.”

“And… Jenny, she’ll be set up by then?”

She smiled, understanding the real question that he was asking. “DOn’t worry, I'll help Jenny get ready. It’ll be fine, Dr. Smith. How does her project look?”

“It looks wonderful!” he gushed, “And I let her do it all on her own. The poster is a bit busy, but that’s quite alright, I suppose, she’s only six.  Her science is very solid, you helped her understand the topic quite well,I believe.”

“I’m glad I could help her,” Rose replied, “What else did you need?”

“Right! Yes.” He sounded a bit nervous, like he was stalling or biding for time, and she couldn’t tell if the flutter in her stomach was nervous or excited. He hummed in the back of his throat for a moment, as though letting her know that yes, he was still on the line, and it would just be a minute, please.

After Rose waited patiently for him to speak, she finally rolled her eyes and said, “Yes?”

“You said you would help me cook?”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Could you… Do you think you could possibly come over tonight and show me?”

“Sure, if you like.  Jenny and I can-”

“Um.” he cut her off but then it took him another beat or two to say anything else. He finally said, in a voice lower than it had been before, “Jenny won’t be home. She has a sleepover tonight.”

Rose swallowed hard.  She wasn’t sure, but this was starting to sound an awful lot like a date. Her hands started to shake at the mere thought of it.  

“If that’s alright with you, of course.” He said hurriedly, suddenly sounding quite panicked. Rose bit her lip and forced her smile down before she replied. 

“That’s fine.  She should have a bit of fun, she’s worked hard.”

“That’s not what I- yes. Yes, she has been working very hard for a six year old, hasn’t she? Poor thing.”

She saw that he had taken her acceptance easily, even if it had taken him a moment and he had had to cut himself off.  “Yes, she has.”

“Could you come over at five?”

“Yes, I think that’ll be fine. But you know soup has to sit for a day or so if you’re making it from scratch, yeah?”

“Oh, I could order takeaway then,” he said, almost to himself, “I haven’t thought about cooking tonight.”

Whether he knew it or not, that statement told her that he had been anticipating a positive response from her, and he hadn’t planned for anything else.  She wound her fingers in the telephone cord to keep her hands from shaking. “Yeah, that’d be fine.’

“I’m sure I’m keeping you. Sorry, what time is it now?”

“It’s three.”

“Blimey, sorry, does that give you enough time?” He asked anxiously.

“I’m almost done here,’ she said, “How did you know that I would be here?”

“I didn’t,” he answered honestly.  “It was a wild guess really, a shot in the dark.  I’d hoped that they would just call your house for me if I couldn’t get through to you here.”

“Well, lucky for you, I was here.”

“Lucky for me.”

“Is that all, then, Dr. Smith?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s all.  But you don’t need to dress up if you don’t want to.  Whenever you come to tutor Jenny for her project, you look a bit formal for my home.  Not to say! That is, you look- very nice and I- I have to go.”

She bit her lip and said around a smile, “Alright, Dr, Smith. I’ll see you in a couple hours, yeah?”

“Yes.  I’ll see you in a bit, then.”

He rang off and she practically threw the phone back in the cradle before taking off out of the room like a shot.  She finished up setting up tables in record time, and Sarah Jane didn’t say a word, just went about her own jobs, smiling happily.  Rose wondered if Sarah Jane knew something that she didn’t. 

There were most likely speeding laws that she broke on the way home, but she wanted to freshen up before she went to John’s.  This was a date, she was sure of it now, and she hadn’t been on one in so long that she found she had no idea what to do with herself.  She tried to pick out a blouse three times before remembering that casual didn’t mean the same thing to John as it meant to her. So, rethinking her options, she picked out a blue t-shirt with a few scattered sequins on it and a black cardigan to pair with simple black pants.  She ran a brush through her hair and stared at herself in the mirror., 

This was… Not what she had expected, to say the least. Dr. Smith had a child.  Granted, she wasn’t his child, not really, not according to biology, but she lived in his house and- she was thinking ahead far too much.  Tonight it was the two of them, and for whatever reason, he had decided to spend his night with her.  She decided that she couldn’t be bothered to question it, and she didn’t really want to.  Tonight she was going to strictly not-think.

She smoothed her hair and coated her lips in clear lip gloss, wiping it off and reapplying it twice before realizing she just needed to take charge of her own mind. She ran the gloss over her lips a final time, nodded at her appearance, and grabbed her purse before heading straight out the door.

There were a few very long minutes where she sat in her car and didn’t make a move to turn it on. Her hands gripped the wheel with a force that was probably unmatched by any strong man in all of England. 

After those minutes, she came to a decision.  This was a chance at something. What, she couldn’t pretend to know, but there was something.  Every action must have an equal and opposite reaction, and perhaps her action was to woman up and drive herself to Dr. Smith’s house and make a name for herself in his life. It didn’t look like it would take a lot to put herself there, but she wasn’t about to take any chances and do something stupid.  

So she drove there, her hands still clenching the wheel, and tried to talk herself down (or up as the case may be) and when she arrived, she sat in the car until 4:59.

She walked to the front step and knocked, hoping her knock sounded feminine, if a knock could sound feminine, and- she was rambling inside her own head.

John opened the door with extravagance, smiling widely. Oh, he’d known it was her, possibly even heard her pull up.  But he didn’t look upset that she had waited.  He was dressed down in a pair of stonewashed jeans and a faded graphic t-shirt.  His eyes were alight and he gestured for her to enter. 

“Punctual as always,” he said, his voice softer than his face demonstrated his voice was supposed to sound.  

“Yes, I try to be,” She said, kicking her shoes off at the door, letting them fall next to John’s.  

“I’ve got the bones laid out, and we had a whole chicken last night, so I threw them in with those.  Is that alright?” He looked, dare she even think it, a little nervous.  

“Yeah, that’s good,” Rose set her purse down next to her shoes, unsure of what to do with it.  “You might be a natural after all, Dr. Smith.”

“Please, call me John,” he said, walking ahead of her so she couldn’t see his face.  

“Alright,” she replied, following him.

“Cuppa?”   
“Sure, thanks.”

After two times of her arriving at his house, he knew how she took her tea, and both times, he’d made it for her in the same mug.  She wasn’t quite sure what to think of that, but she knew that it made her feel warm in a way that was comfortable, like sitting in front of a fire.  

She stood with him in the kitchen, leaning her hip against the counter and watching him. It was different without Jenny in the house, quiet and mellow, but there was a humming undertone of energy because John was constantly bouncing off the walls.  Rose looked around at the dining and living room. There were no decorations at all, or, no decor, as her mother would say.  Nothing to prove that this was their house, where they  _lived._ It looked more like a show house. And since she was here, alone, with him, she felt that she had a bit of a right to ask him the question that crept into her mind. 

"How come you don't decorate your house?" She asked, gazing around.

He looked down at her. "I don't know. I just don't have time."  He cocked his eyebrow at her, "I'm a very busy man, Rose."

 That was the first time he had said her name, and it rolled off his tongue just right, and she couldn't help but smile up at him. She liked the way it sounded from him. 

"You know, you should get some stuff to make this place more homey."

"Uh huh. And why's that?"

"Makes people comfortable.  And it's a way to show your personality."

"Maybe I like my personality being a secret," he teased, then looked at her a little more seriously. "Are you uncomfortable?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Oh, good," he said, breathing out a sigh.  "I would hate for you to be uncomfortable."

"I wouldn't have come over here if I was uncomfortable," she pointed out smoothly.  "But here I am."

"Here you are."

The kettle boiled and John jumped, as though he hadn't meant to get quite so invested in the conversation.  But he was, and as a result he almost burned his hand on the kettle when it boiled.  He blushed and removed the kettle from the stove, pouring their tea. He prepared it just how she liked it in the same mug and passed it to her. 

"Jenny positively adores you," he said softly.

She smiled over her mug.  "You know, I'm glad. She's a great kid, John.  Really."

He gave her a timid little grin. "I can only hope that I'm doing what's best for her," he whispered.

"You're a great dad." she said, "You know, I didn't have a dad.  Died when I was a baby," she lifted a hand when he tried to offer his sympathies. "It's fine, really. But you're giving Jenny something that I have never had. That all by itself is the most important thing in the world, yeah?  You're doing good."

"Well, I appreciate that.  Thank you."

"She loves you too. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"So you've got to be a good dad then, eh?"

He smiled, "Can't be too bad if they handed a kid over to me."

She laughed, and he did too, looking quite impressed that he had elicited a positive reaction from her. 

"Well, Rose, how about you see if you can teach me how to make a decent soup?"

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Her nervousness dissipated as they spent time together, as she instructed him on what to put in the soup and how to boil the bones.  He was charming and his own anxieties seemed wane as the night wore on.

John checked his watch and his eyebrows raised.  “It’s nearly half six, I suppose I should order us something. What do you fancy?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t eat takeaway much.  You pick.”

He tapped a finger against his chin. “Chinese?”

“Sure.”

He shot her another happy smile and skipped off to grab the landline phone from the kitchen counter. “Here’s the menu,” he pulled down a piece of paper from his cupboard and gave it to her.  

“Well, I dunno, what do you recommend?”Rose said, flipping the menu over and trying to find something.

“I recommend the Lo Mein,” he said, rocking back on his heels, his hands shoved into his pockets.  

“Well then, we’ll go with that,” she said, handing him the menu back.  He pulled his hands out of his pockets and took the menu, sliding it back in its place.  

“You’d just let me pick out something for you to eat?” he asked, seeming genuinely confused.  Rose nodded, furrowing her brows at him. 

“Yeah, why not?” She asked.

“Um.  Because I could have the worst taste in food in the world,” he said slowly, like he was trying to convince of himself of that more than her. 

She laughed, because there wasn’t anything else for it.  He was being a bit ridiculous, really, and he seemed to be incredibly surprised that she exhibited any sort of trust in him. 

“You could definitely have poor taste, but it can’t be that bad, if you’ve kept Jenny on this long without her running away.”

He beamed at her.  “You’ve got me there, don’t you?  Alright, I suppose if you’re going to trust my opinions, it’s at your own risk, isn’t it?” he said teasingly.  “You can turn on the telly if you like, or I have some books you can look through, while I order/”

“Alright,” she said, and made her way out into the living room as he dialed the phone.  She could hear him ordering happily, being very polite and kind to whoever was on the other end.  He was such a sweet person, she marvelled, as she walked up to the bookcase in his living room.  They were organized alphabetically, and she let out a low whistle when she saw it all.  This wasn’t a massive collection, but it was nicer than anything she had ever had.  It was nice and varied, fiction and nonfiction, Twain and Austen.  She tilted her head and almost didn’t hear him come up behind her, because he was suddenly very close.

  
“Never took you for a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ man,” she said curiously.  She could  feel  him behind her, chest so close to her back.   


“It’s a fine literary work.  Not just for the time period it was written in, but any time, really.  Beautiful done, expertly crafted.  It’s brilliant.”

“I agree with you,” she said, “I just never took you for that sort a reader. A little romantic, isn’t it?  And you love science.”

“Isn’t love science?” he asked softly.

She turned around, looking up at him, and almost gulped at how close he really was, and how dark his eyes were. “I haven’t thought about it,” she said in a tone that matched his, the heat of the room settling around them.  “I suppose it could be.”

  
“Think about it,” he prompted.  “It’s chemical reactions, based on touch and emotion,” he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and she shivered.  “It’s also focused on the connection between two people.  I always think that adding more than two gets a bit complicated, and I’m not  quite  sure why people do it, but that may just be a science that I don’t understand.”   


“Well, you seem to understand plenty of other things,” she said, a little breathless, not able to think of anything else but the way his fingers had felt on her skin.  He’d not touched her, not aside from shaking her hand at the door when she entered.  And this was clearly, blatantly different.  He was doing this for a purpose, with purpose.

  
“I  am  a scientist.”   


“Well, yes.” 

“And did you think that I just… Didn’t know anything about people?” He asked, stepping closer to her.

“I can’t pretend to know what you know,” she said, “I only know what I know.”

“Well said,” he replied softly, watching her carefully.  “If you like, you can borrow any of those books that you like. I’ve read them all multiple times after all,” he said, gesturing vaguely behind her to the bookshelves that lined his walls.

“I think I’d be afraid of disrupting your order,” Rose replied honestly, lacing her fingers together to keep back the urge to reach out and pull him down to her so she could show him how grateful she was for all of his offers. 

  
It was too fast for that, she knew that, was fully aware of it in fact, but it was impossible to keep away from him.  Something about him drew her ever closer, and if she was reading his actions right, she would daresay that she was having the same effect on him. He swallowed.   


  
He cleared his throat and sniffed, looking over her head for a moment, composing himself, before he lowered his eyes back to hers. “I’d like for you to disrupt them, if you would like to have a look.” he gestured with his chin and she took the hint, turning around to face the shelves again.    


  
“You have quite the collection here.” she said.    


  
“Yeah. Lots of it was inherited, but I started picking things up here and there. The bottom shelves are all Jenny’s.  The rest are mine.”   


  
“Oh, no, John, I was dying to read ‘Are You My Mother?’”   


  
He chuckled, lowly, a rumble that almost rolled through her back, they were so close. His hand moved and laid against her waist, and she nearly jolted in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to touch her again, not so soon. Of course, she was far from complaining.  Far,  far  from complaining. This was what she hadn’t known she’d wanted.    


  
It was clear that he was no womanizer though, no ladies’ man.  She was not his next conquest.  His hand was shaking where it lay against the wool of her cardigan, and it wasn’t because he was trying to hold himself back. The way he was breathing told her he was afraid. Afraid of rejection, afraid of her, afraid of  what  she couldn’t begin to know, but he was not about to force her into something she didn’t want.   


  
To reassure him, she leaned back into his touch, and his other hand came up on the other side of her. “Go ahead and pick one out,” he said on a whisper so quiet that she wouldn’t have heard him if she hadn’t been so tuned into his every word and motion.     


  
“I wouldn’t know where to begin.”   


  
His hand established a firmer grip, holding her closer but not any tighter, allowing her to slip out of his arms, if she so desired it.   


  
She’s not quite sure when the mood changed, when his hands stopped shaking and his breath started brushing her neck.  She doesn’t remember reaching out for the bookshelf but suddenly she has a book in her hand, a collection of Twain’s stories bound in red leather, gold lettering on the front.  She looked up at him, a feat considering their position, and he looked back down at her, his eyes expectant.    


  
“I -” she begins, then stops. “Thank you. I’ll bring it back next week.”   


  
“You can bring it back whenever you want,” he told her, smiling tenderly at her. “This isn’t the library.”   


  
She looked at the number of books he had and decided  not to mention that it really might as well be.  He seemed to catch on to what she was thinking, though, and lifted a shoulder.    


  
“Like I said, inherited and for the most part, picked up along the way.  There’s all kinds of interesting things in the world, after all.”   


  
“Do you travel?”   


  
“As often as I can,” he replied. “I haven’t… Recently.”   


  
Since he adopted Jenny, he meant to say, but she had a feeling that he didn’t want to make it sound like it was her fault.  Of course, he’d wanted to adopt her.  She hadn’t been forced upon him. She smiled, a little weakly.   


  
“Maybe you’ll be able to travel again someday,” she said, trying to sound both casual and hopeful and having a feeling that she was accomplishing neither.    


  
He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe.  Maybe not.  Who knows, really?”   


  
“Nobody,” she replied, surprising him and herself.  “But if you keep thinking about it, planning for it, it might happen. You don’t know.”   


  
“No, I suppose I don’t,” he mused.  He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking rather uncomfortable. “I could go check on the soup.”   


  
“It’s not going to be done,” she said softly, “Remember?  Gotta let it sit for awhile, let all the flavors sit in.  Mix them up, and all that.”   


  
“Ah,” he said, “And you know a lot about that, do you.”   


  
“Plenty.” She paused, not wanting to make him feel so out of place in his own home, and said, “Tell me where you travelled to.”   


  
He smiled, seeming to like this topic of conversation better. “Oh, here and there,” he said, “Italy, Germany, Ireland.  All sorts of places, really.”  He looked a little wistful. “I like the small towns.  That’s where all the real culture is, Rose, not in the cities.  Where the lowest people live, the ones so full of happiness because they have families and-” he stopped suddenly, startling her. “It’s beautiful.”   


  
“And you work quite a bit.”   


  
“Sometimes I got to travel for work,” he told her, “They try not to send me out on those sorts of jobs anymore, though.”     


  
They watched each other for a moment, and Rose swayed forward a step, wanting to hug him, but stopped, practically under his nose. He was still smiling at her, a softer smile.  He reached up and tucked the same piece of hair behind her ear again.  Unconsciously, she leaned into the touch, and he jolted in surprise at it.  But for still another moment, he didn’t pull away.  He did remove his hand eventually, his fingers grazing her cheek on the way down.     


  
“I’ve got… Plenty of movies,” he said lamely, gesturing farther into the living room, at a cabinet filled with DVDs.   


  
She bit her lip, looking away from him.  Sometimes, his eyes were too intense, and she wondered if he did that on purpose or if he had just lived a more difficult life than he would have her believe.   


  
“Miss Ty- Rose, I-” he was cut off by the doorbell ringing, and they both jolted nearly violently.  How long had they been standing there?  She swallowed hard, trying to compose herself as he went to answer the door.  It was the delivery man, of course, the very man that they had been expecting this whole time.  Rose ran her hand through her hair, wondering when it had gotten so warm in the room.   


  
Oh, this wasn’t fair. There was no way that this man should be affecting her this way, especially after such a short amount of time. She breathed out a shuddering sigh and waited patiently for him to return.   


  
As it ended up, they ate their dinner on the couch in front of a movie, and soon the takeaway containers ended up on the coffee table, and she tucked her feet up under her, watching whatever sci-fi mush he’d turned on.  That wasn’t to say she didn’t like it, of course, she actually quite enjoyed it and wondered how he had randomly picked something that she would enjoy.    


  
Then his hand brushed her shoulder farthest from him and her mind went totally blank.   


  
She scooted closer to him, until she was cuddled under his shoulder, practically sharing the recliner that his part of the couch had popped out.  His heart was hammering wildly under her ear and that was so bloody endearing all by itself that she thought if she kissed him he would do anything but pull away.    


  
Instead of doing that, though, she settled for cuddling him. They were stretched out along his part of the couch, her foot resting on his calf, and one of her arms finding its way around his waist.   


  
On the whole, it should have felt odd. She hadn’t been held like this in years, but instead of feeling discomfort, she felt whole. He fit her like a puzzle piece, and they practically breathed together.     


  
It was only when the room had been plunged into darkness, save for the telly, that she realized she probably shouldn’t stay any more.  She regretfully pulled up from his chest and watched the confused look on his face.    


  
“I have work tomorrow,” she whispered, sensing that a whisper was quite appropriate for the mood at hand.   


  
His hand skimmed down her back and he nodded.  “I’ll walk you out.”   


  
They spoke quietly to one another as she put on her shoes and gathered up her purse. As he walked her out to her car, she gave him last minute instructions on what to do with the soup.   


  
“Um, you know, I could just… Text you, if I needed any help,” he said softly.   


  
She smiled brightly, unable to help herself. “Sure,” she said, and gave him her mobile number, making sure it was correct. He plugged it into his phone and smiled warmly at her before tucking it back into his pocket.   


  
“Thank you for having me,” she said, trying not to wring her hands. “This was nice.”   


  
“I’d like to do it again sometime… If you like.”   


  
“Sure,” she responded, trying to sound enthusiastic about it.  “I’d like that.”   


  
He reached forward and took her hand in his, staring down at it as though he couldn’t quite believe he was touching her, and lifted it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles. She practically melted to a puddle on the spot.   


  
She decided the best course of action was retaliation, so she reached up and cupped his cheek with her free hand, stretching up on her tiptoes to kiss the cheek that she wasn’t touching.  He let out a little sigh as she pulled back.   


  
“I’ll see you at the science fair, then?”   
“Of course.”   


  
“Alright then.  Goodnight, Rose.”   


  
“Goodnight.”   


He gave her hand one last little squeeze before letting her go and she stood gazing after him as he walked back up the steps for just a moment before getting back in her car and driving home.


	8. Chapter 8

As it happened, Rose texted John for a good bit of the next day.  He talked to her about the soup, yes, and then he spoke to her about other things, turning a conversation about soup into a conversation about what sorts of movies they liked, what her favorite restaurant was.  She wondered what he was up to on some lever. She had a feeling that he was naturally a very friendly person and hoped that if he was acting interested in her, it was because he was actually interested in her.  Did he feel anything for her at all?  He'd kissed her hand, but that didn't mean anything, did it?

_Well, Rose, I suppose I should have someone try this soup.  Care to come over?_

She smiled and bit her thumbnail, entranced by the invitation.  Did he really want to see her again?  he'd said he did, but most people said that after a bad date. 

Was that what it was? A date?  Even if that's what it was, it hadn't seemed very bad at all, in fact, rather the opposite.  She had genuinely enjoyed the time they had spent together and was not above admitting that.  Of course, there was nothing low about telling oneself that one had had a very nice time with a very gorgeous man.

A man, she reminded herself, who had a very young daughter.

But nevertheless, the day before the science fair, she went over to his house once again.

"Rose!"  he said happily as he answered the door.  "We were just waiting for you."

"Sorry, did I keep you?" She asked, furrowing her brows and trying to ignore the fact that he hadn't even tried to touch her when she had come in.  She had _wanted_ him to touch her, and he hadn't. She chewed her bottom lip nervously as she followed him into the kitchen.

"Of course not," he replied, frowning over his shoulder.  "Come on then!  Think you should like it, me."

Rose laughed.  "Alright then, impress me."

Jenny flew down the stairs then, her little feet barely hitting the stairs in her excitement. "Hello, Miss Tyler!" she said enthusiastically, waving as though Rose was two hundred feet away instead of five. 

"Hello, Jenny!  All set for the fair tomorrow?"

"Yes!  I think I might win, Miss Tyler!"

"That's the spirit!" 

John had turned the soup into chicken noodle, and she didn't have the heart to tell him that he could've put something other than green beans in with said chicken and noodles because he just seemed so bloody proud of it.  It was rather good though, he had salted it well and it seemed as though he had spent a lot of time on it.  

"I think it's great," she told him, "You might have a knack for soup after all."

He'd also made bread, and she found that the more she found out about his cooking abilities, the more impressed she was. They chatted as they ate and Jenny admittedly dominated the conversation, but neither of the adults minded. She was sent to her room to go to bed shortly after dinner, and although Rose loved the little girl, it was nice to have a moment or so of quiet.  

She helped John with the dishes, carrying plates and bowls into the kitchen and drying them off as he washed them.

She noted that he had lovely hands.

"Thank you for coming," he said, "I fear that Jenny's opinion on cooking is rather bias."

She laughed, toweling off one of the plates he had handed her. "How do you know I'm not?"

"Because you're a teacher, and teachers are supposed to be fair and balanced."

"I have to be honest with you," she said, "I give all the students A's because I can't bear to grade their assignments.  They're just kids after all."

"I think you'll find I'm not a kid, Rose."

She looked him over slowly. "No, I gathered that you weren't." 

He watched her, his eyes dark.  "Then perhaps not as fair and balanced as I thought, then."

"No, of course, I'm not," she said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.  "You've got to admit that you are a very good cook, though."

He smiled and sniffed, feeling a bit chuffed that she actually thought his cooking was good. "Well, I can't say that I haven't noticed that I'm good at it.  But it's just science.  That's why I'm so good at it."

"What, like a chemical equation?" She asked, cocking her head to the side and regarding him carefully.

He grinned. "Of course," he said, "Measurements, catalysts, combing to create an end result. The only difference is that you can _eat_ the end result in cooking, but you can't in science," he made a face, "Well, at least you shouldn't."

She giggled, unable to help herself.  "Of course, how foolish of me."

They were quiet for a few moments, and it was strange that that didn't feel odd.  The silence was begging to be breached after all, as most silences are, but Rose nor John could think of one word to break it with.  So he was quiet, and so was she, the clinking of dishes the only sound to be heard. 

"I'll stop by Jenny's table when she gets there," Rose said slowly, "I think she might want to see me at the beginning of the day.  Maybe. I don't know. If she doesn't, I can-"

"Of course she'll want to see you," John cut her off.  "The child adores you, Rose, absolutely adores you. I've never seen her taken with anyone quite so much."

"Besides you, of course."

"Well, I did raise her."

"And you're doing a bloody good job of it, too."

"Thank you."  He drained the sink and wiped his hands off on a towel.

"I should be going."

"You're always insisting to leave."

"I have a job to get to. I don't think I've got the freedom you do when it comes to your job."

"No. A bloke could get a complex, though."

She smiled, her lip twitching as she tried to keep it from springing into a full-blown grin.  "I wouldn't want you to get a complex.  I've just got a job to do.  A job, that, in fact, includes your daughter."

"You've got me there," he said, pretending to be forlorn.  "I'll walk you out."

She let him walk her out, and he took her hand in his as she got her shoes on, helping her keep her balance.  She was touched by the gentleness of him, of how he was taking care of her.  Part of her wondered if he was just chivalrous, or kind, or another variation of 'not interested'.

He stopped at her car, and she turned to him, leaning against the door and crossing her arms over her chest.  "So, why do you walk me all the way to my car?"

"Making sure you get there safe," he said, as though it was quite obvious. 

She smiled. "You know, it's not like it's a terribly rough part of town."

"No, it's not," he said, "But I want you to just be... I want you to be safe."

"Well, I appreciate that, thank you."

"Of course." 

He rocked back on his heels, his hands in his pockets.  "I suppose I should go on and check on Jenny, then, make sure that she's alright."

"Okay," she tried not to feel disappointed.  "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Absolutely. I wouldn't miss it for the world."  He said, grinning broadly at her.  She smiled back at him, although she was quite certain that her smile could never be as bright as his.  

She shifted her weight, still leaning on her car.  "I'm glad you're an involved parent. You'd be surprised how many people don't want to bother with their kids."

He furrowed his brows.  "I don't- she's my _daughter._ Of course I want to be there for her.  How's she supposed to grow up without her dad coming to her events?"

She bit her lip to keep from smiling any wider. "You'd be surprised," she repeated.  She felt that she didn't need to mention that he was already _not_ her real parent and already doing better than a ton of the parents she knew.  "I think you're a great dad."

"Thank you." He was quiet for a moment, as though pondering something quite serious indeed.  "I- Could I-?" He reached his arms out slowly, silently asking for a hug, and he looked like a kicked puppy even though she hadn't rejected him. 

She pushed herself off her car and wrapped her arms around his neck. The stiffness melted out of his muscles and his hands held her waist in a reassuring way, a way that made her feel comfortable and protected.  She didn't quite intend on pressing her face into the side of his neck, but it happened, and his breath hitched and he tugged her closer. 

"I want to see you again," he whispered.

"I want you to see me again," she replied, a little breathless.  He shivered at the feel of her breath against his neck.  He tugged her closer and ran one hand up and down her back, and it really seemed as though he was not going to let her go.

"Okay," he said softly.

"Yeah, that's that, then."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Mm-hm."

 She wanted to kiss him so badly she could practically feel it burning in her blood, but she knew it was too early for that. She could hear his ragged breathing and the thundering of his heart against her chest. 

They didn't let go of each other, even though they'd technically said goodnight.  Had he been just a regular bloke, without the attachment of a child, she might have done something else.  She might have chanced that kiss that she was so scared of.  She pulled away from him slowly, wanting to ease herself out of it, and ran her hands along his shoulders, the soft fabric of his t-shirt feeling rough in comparison to the skin of his neck.  

He was gorgeous.  His hair was tousled, his mouth open as he panted gently.  He was overwhelmed just from this, as she was.  She ran her hands down his arms, letting them drop to her sides. A man had never done this to her before, and she couldn't pretend to understand it.  He did something to her, and by the looks of it, it was the exact same thing that she did to him. 

"Um.  I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll... I'll text you? After that?" He asked softly.

"Yes."

"Or... You could come to dinner with us?  If you don't have too much work to do?"

"You've been quite generous to me. You could come to my flat."

"No, um, I meant, I meant- eating out, at a restaurant," he rubbed the back of his neck, looking very awkward indeed.  "With Jenny, if that's all right."

"Of course that's all right.  Are we going dutch then?" She asked, arching her eyebrow, daring him to challenge her on it.  

He shook his head nearly violently. "No. No, I'll pay, don't you worry."

"John-"

"I want to pay for you."

She bit her lip.  Her mother had once told her to never refute a man's kindness.  If he wanted to pay, it would hurt his pride if she refused.  So she nodded, but decided to still say, "You've been too kind to me." 

"I was taught to treat women with the most respect that I could muster.  I'm not done mustering." 

She smiled softly.  "If you insist."

"I do."

"Okay then.  I'll see you tomorrow. Where are we eating?" 

"That's a surprise until tomorrow, I'll tell you at the fair. All day event, that."

"Yeah, guess you're right."  She smiled, unable to do anything else when she was looking at him. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you." 

John stepped back as she unlocked her car and slid into the driver's seat.  He walked back up to his front stoop, but watched her still until she was safely out of his driveway.  She had to wonder, as she drove away, if there had ever been a man as perfect as John Smith.


	9. Chapter 9

John popped up with Jenny a little early at the science fair, to help her set up, even though Rose had said that she would gladly do it. She smiled when they came in, and waved a little.  John beamed back at her and Jenny had a mirror image grin of her father's, which made her smile even wider. 

"Alright, I've got a couple things to take care of here," she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.  "But you can go ahead, here's your table."  She gestured to the name plate, which read _Jenny Smith_ in the cutest little font that Rose had ever seen.  John's hand twitched at his side, as though he wanted to reach out for Rose, but of course, he knew that he probably should've display public affection.  It wasn't frowned upon for them to be seeing each other, but Jenny wasn't really aware of the whole relationship that was forming between them, and someone might think that Rose was cheating for Jenny to win the competition.

"Alright, we'll set this up, then."  John said, his smile not falling at all. 

She laced her fingers together in front of her smiled again before dipping around the corner to go check on the other kids. 

"So, how's it going with John?" Sarah Jane asked from right over Rose's shoulder.  She jolted and her hand pressed over her heart.  

"Oh, God, you scared me," Rose said, breathing out a sigh that sounded a bit like a laugh.  "Yeah, he just got here."

"That's not what I mean," Sarah Jane scolded.  "You're quite close to him, I can see it."

"I mean, yeah.  We're good friends."

"You're more than that."

She blushed.  She hadn't realized they were quite so obvious. "Yeah," she said softly, "We care about each other quite a lot.  And I care about Jenny too."

"I know you do. I can see it.  Do you think there's something there, Rose?  Be honest?"

Rose nodded slowly.  "I do.  I'm drawn to him, yeah, and I haven't been... You know, for so long, I haven't felt that way towards anyone."

Sarah Jane smiled widely.  "I think he's a great man.  You would be treated like a queen, with him."

"Yeah, I've... I've figured that out, a little."  She shifted a little awkwardly on her feet. "Yeah, I"ve got to, I've got to go check on some of the other kids," she said, and scurried off, leaving a laughing Sarah Jane behind her.  

The other parents liked Rose, thought she was an excellent teacher, and therefore a lot of her time was monopolized by over concerned mothers and fathers that wanted their kids to achieve greatness before ten years old.  Some mothers wouldn't speak to Rose at all, because she was young and pretty and even though _they_ were young and pretty, they were quite afraid that she was younger and prettier.  

John kept glancing over at her as he helped Jenny set up her tri-fold board and her little cups with pennies in them with the various liquids for cleaning.  Rose tried to ignore him, but not enough to stop looking back at him.  She smiled and tried to hide the blush that threatened to crawl across her face.  It eventually did so and John winked at her, as though quite proud that he could instill that sort of reaction in her.  Rose saw Jenny look up and say something to him and then suddenly he was blushing too.  She stifled a laugh behind her hand and turned to go back to her work.

Eventually, it came time for the judges to walk around and look at all the experiments that the kids had made, and Rose wound through the crowd as well, wanting to see what everyone had come up with. 

She stopped at Jenny's booth to talk to her for a moment, though she doubted she was inconspicuous with the way she kept looking up at John. 

"I'm very proud of you Jenny, you've done very well on this project." She said, squatting so she was eye level with the little girl.

Jenny's face radiated pride and excitement in her own abilities, and she glanced up at her dad for approval. "Thank you, Miss Tyler," she said, "That you for helping me."

"It was nothing, I'm glad I could help," she told her. 

"I've told Jenny you'll be joining us for dinner."  John piped up.  Rose smiled softly and got to her feet again.

"Yes.  Do you plan on telling me where we're going?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips and pretending to look put out.  Jenny giggled.

"No, no, Miss Tyler, you'll have to meet us after the fair. I'll tell you then, eh?" 

"Sure, of course." She said, rolling her eyes.  "Okay, Jenny, I'll see you in a little while. Good luck!"

Jenny grinned. "Thank you!" And as Rose walked away, she barely heard it, but she heard it. Jenny said to John, in a soft tone, "Daddy, is Miss Tyler gonna be my mum?"

She nearly stopped as her heart swelled with happiness.  She bit back tears of something she couldn't quite name but wanted to call it contentment to the highest extreme, and heard John sputter a  few moments before he answered.

"Maybe, Jenny, but don't you tell her I told you that, alright?" 

"Okay!"

She was starting to have visions of the three of them, a little family, sharing dinner as they had done a few times, her helping Jenny pick out clothes for school, her and John making dinner as Jenny did her homework on the table. She was getting ahead of herself, didn't even think she was ready for kids, but if John was the man to help her parent a child, she thought that she might just be willing.  He'd been doing it this long, after all, she doubted he needed her help... But he seemed to want it, or at the very least, he didn't mind. 

After a moment of blissful thought, she shook herself and headed farther away from Jenny's table.  The two of them were taking up too much of her interest, she needed to be doing her job.  Although, being preoccupied by a man that was so gorgeous and kind and his daughter who she was staring to think of as her own, wasn't so bad after all.  

The judges went around and tacked a red second place ribbon on Jenny's project.  Rose expected the girl to be upset, but she was bouncing about with such happiness that Rose let out a sigh of relief.  She walked over to the two of them, making sure her smile matched her emotions. 

"Congradulations, Jenny," she smiled, and without warning, Jenny launched herself into Rose's arms, making Rose have to bend down so that Jenny wouldn't hurt herself.

"Thanks," was all the little girl whispered, but that was enough. Rose squeezed her a little tighter around the middle as the girl threatened to cut off the circulation to her throat.

"Well, enough of that, let's pack up and celebrate," John said enthusiastically, clapping his hands together.  Jenny let go of Rose and John extended a hand down to help Rose to her feet.  She forced herself to ignore the spark of electricity that shot up her arm when her hand touched his.  

"Where are we going?" She asked. 

"We're going to Ceviche Soho," John said happily.

Rose had to keep her jaw from dropping. That was an _expensive_ restaurant. Not unbearably so, but definitely much more expensive than Rose could handle if she was trying to buy dinner for herself.  "Are you sure?" She whispered. 

"Why? Don't you want to go?" John asked. 

"Yes, of course, I just... I can help pay, I can-"

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you that I want to pay for you before you believe me," John said, though not unkindly.

She bit her lip and nodded slightly. "Okay," she said, barely above a whisper.

"Brilliant! Do you need directions?"

"No, no, that's alright, I know how to get there."

"Good.  I'll see you there, then."

"Yeah, see you there."

They arrived at the restaurant at about the same time so they got the table together, and Rose was forced to realize how much of a proper family they looked.  Jenny looked vaguely like Rose, blonde hair and cheery eyes matching hers, and she had her father's bounce in her step.  She had her second place ribbon pinned to her dress and kept adjusting it proudly.  Rose smiled at the excitement that seemed to course through the little girl.  She had one hand in John's and on in Rose's, and Rose was astonished with how right that felt. 

Rose tried to pick the least expensive item, but John kept trying to get her to buy the more expensive, saying that "I'm pretty sure that the steak and lobster here is wonderful."

"I don't know that I'm a lobster person," Rose said awkwardly. "I've never had it."

"Ah!  Well, we'll fix that.  I'll get the surf, you get the turf, and we split?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

"I want Shepard's pie," Jenny said decidedly, closing the menu that Rose wasn't sure she could read all the way anyway.

"Of course," John said, as though there was not a question as to what Jenny would be having for dinner.  He grinned at her and looked back to Rose.

"Okay," She said, glancing at her menu, "Sounds good."

Their order was taken and the food was brought and Rose learned that she did indeed like lobster, and she really liked steak. Well, that was, she liked this steak, that was cooked to absolute perfection and seasoned beyond anything she knew about seasoning. 

"This is brilliant," she said after she'd swallowed her third or fourth mouthful.  "I think we'll have to learn to cook like this."

"I agree," John said, "Here, give me a napkin."

Rose handed him a paper napkin from her purse, and John pulled out a pen from one of his inner pockets.  He took the napkin and winked at her. "Alright, here's what we'll do.  You take a bite of that steak."

Rose took a bite of the steak and chewed thoughtfully. "Cracked pepper," she said softly, trying not to gather the attention of their server, just in case that wasn't allowed.

He grinned. "My turn."

He made no move to pick up a fork himself, so she stabbed a piece with her fork and held it out to him. Jenny giggled at their antics. 

"Are you gonna open up for the train?" Rose teased, and that just made Jenny giggle harder.  John took her wrist in his hand and took the piece of finely cooked steak off of her fork.  She went back to eating her vegetables as she watched him chew thoughtfully.

"Paprika," he said.  "Salt?"

"Is that a question?"

"I think it's Kosher."

"Nah, you don't know that!" Jenny cried. "You can't tell."

John pretended to look offended. "Yes I can!" He said, and turned his nose up and away from her to make her laugh as he continued chewing.  "Red pepper... Dill seed... Garlic... I think that's all."

"We'll have to test it you know," she said as he wrote down the ingredients on the napkin.  "You could be wrong."

"I could be, but it's highly unlikely. I have an excellent sense of taste."

Jenny giggled. "Sometimes you're wrong, Daddy."

"Oi," he said softly, raising his eyebrow. "Not in front of Miss Tyler, she has to think I'm clever."

Jenny beamed. "Do you think he's clever?"

"Any man who can build a volcano like that who is quite clever indeed," she said indulgently, but mostly just because it was true.  

He beamed and adjusted his tie, sniffing a little.  "Well then, Miss Tyler, I believe you deserve another piece of lobster for that."

They traded food, but there was no more feeding each other across the table, of course, there was a child with them and _his_ child at that, and Rose couldn't think of anything more embarrassing than acting romantic in front of a man's child.  It's like having your friend's mum and dad kiss in front of you, she thought.  

Jenny had trouble finishing all her dinner but decided she wanted to do it so she wouldn't have to pack up any of it for tomorrow.  Rose wondered when she would hit the age that leftover from a restaurant were a blessed thing.

"Here, you can have my leftovers, then," he said.

"Are you sure?"

He sighed. "Would you let me spoil you, _please?"_

"I'm just checking," She said, raising her hands in mock surrender.   

 

She walked them to their car, since Jenny had to be put in her car seat, being as she was still so small, and Rose stood behind John as he did so.

"See you on Monday, Miss Tyler!" She said cheerfully.

"Yes, see you then, Jenny," Rose agreed, smiling softly.  John shut the car door and turned to Rose, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing."

"Would you like to come over?"

"Would _you_ like to come over?" She asked. "You've had me in your house plenty of times, and I've never had you at my flat."

"Jenny's having another sleepover."

"Your doing?"

"Actually no, she's just a bit of a social butterfly.  I could come over."  He said it slowly, like he felt he was inviting himself over. 

"Good. I'd love to have you.  Come by around three?  I'll text you my address."

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Alright, then."

He swayed forward and took her into a hug, a less demanding hug then before.  She hugged him back, and he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek as he pulled back.

"Until tomorrow."

"Yeah."

He got in his car but waited until she was in hers before he started his up. She wondered why he had the need to watch her like that, like something was going to attack her before she could get home safely.  She gripped her steering wheel and breathed out a sigh. She was quite positive that tomorrow could change everything, if she let it.

And she felt that she was about to burst. 

So she would let it.


	10. Chapter 10

She panic-cleaned her flat.  It was a nice little flat, quite nice, actually, but it was still on the Powell Estates, just a hop, skip, and jump from her mum, who lived in a different building but still close.  

It had white carpeting and she had a white pleather couch with a homemade afghan covering it, so that when she sat on it in the summer her legs wouldn't stick to the cushions.  It stayed there all year round though, because she liked wrapping herself up in it in the evenings.

But now, it looked cluttered, her whole place looked cluttered. She had knick knacks and her end tables and coffee table didn't quite match.  Her television was smaller than his and-

She was being foolish. He didn't care.  If he cared about how large her flat was, he would've demanded he come here first.  And besides, she was the one that invited him over, and she certainly didn't regret that. She wanted him here, of course, but it had been a long, _long_ time since she'd had a boy over, and John wasn't a boy.  No, he was all man, parenting his daughter to prove it.

For awhile, she was so busy, sinking into her own thoughts, that she didn't hear the knock on her door.  She jolted and went to answer it, smoothing down her t-shirt as she did so.  She opened the door and smiled to see John dressed just as casually as she was on the other side.  He was holding something in a bag.  

"What's that?" She asked. 

"A present," he said, leaning forward and kissing her cheek on his way in.  

She was past objecting to the gifts he was giving her, whether it was dinner or an hour spent with him.  Besides, her mother once told her that if one rejected gifts from a man, his ego would bruise and he wouldn't bring her anything anymore, and he'd never love her.  Maybe that was a bit harsh, but Rose remembered it and decided now was as good a time as any to put that into practice. 

"Well, thank you- oh!  John."  She pulled out a bottle of fine white whine, aged quite perfectly, if the date on the bottle was anything to go by.  She didn't know much about wine, but she did know that this particular bottle had to have been quite expensive.

"Do you like it?" He asked anxiously, "I don't know if you drink, but I took a taxi over, just in case we drink, I don't want you to think that I would drink and drive, I-"

"I don't think I've ever had wine this fine, so I don't know if I like it or not," she said, smiling up at him, cutting him off right in the middle of what was about to be a good ramble.  "I'd love to try it.  You spoil me."

"Yes," he sniffed and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets.  "I think I'm rather fond of spoiling you, Rose Tyler."

"Well, thank you. I was just gonna order us chips for dinner, unless you had some other plans. I don't know if chips go with wine," she chewed her bottom lip and eyed the bottle.

"Nonsense!" he scoffed, taking the bottle from her and letting himself into her kitchen. "Chips go with everything, and we could drink this afterwards if we hate how it mixes too terribly."

She reached up into one of her cupboards and took down two wine glasses.  She set them on the counter and then hopped up next to them, her feet dangling against her dishwasher.  He popped the bottle open and poured them each a glass. He handed her the one that was just a bit more full.

"Shall we toast?"

"Hmm.  To what?" She asked, cocking her head and swirling the wine a little in her glass. 

"I don't know, " he shrugged, even though it was clearly clear that he did know exactly what he wanted to toast to.  "To the fact that you are the one that teaches Jenny? I don't know what I would do if she had another teacher."

"Well, you certainly wouldn't be here," she said gently. 

He grimaced. "Don't remind me. I don't even want to think about that.  You  have a lovely home, by the way."

She glanced around at her kitchen, with its pictures of her family and friends on the refrigerator and a hand turkey her little cousin had made her hanging on one of the cupboards.  He was looking around too, and standing almost between her knees now. 

"Is this what you meant, when you were talking about decor?" He asked teasingly.

"Well, you could put some of Jenny's drawings up."

"You're right. Is that what good parents do?"

"It's what _some_ parents do. Doesn't make you good or bad to do otherwise, John," she said. 

He shook himself. "Well, a toast to chance meetings," he said, "To me making an incredibly inappropriate volcano for a six year old to present."

She giggled and toasted him.  She watched what he did with the wine before she did the same thing, swirling the wine and then tasting it.  She smiled up at him.  "It's gorgeous," she said enthusiastically.  

"Oh, good, I'm glad you like it. It's been in my basement, waiting for the right occasion."

"And this is it?"

"I should say so."

She really couldn't stop smiling, and she didn't know what made her like that.  She was so fond of this man, in a way that she wasn't sure she could ever describe if someone asked her to describe it. 

"Should I order those chips, then?" she asked, reaching for her landline phone.  He stepped closer to her, putting his wine glass down and putting a hand on either side of her thighs. 

"Sure," he said softly.  "You have them on speed dial?"

"Well, sometimes a girl just needs some grossly unhealthy takeaway food," she said, skimming through the numbers and clicking the correct one.

The moment the person on the other end picked up the phone, he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.  He was so unbelievably tender, she wondered where he had learned it. She wanted to either strangle or thank the woman that had taught him to be this way.  Without thinking, as she was placing the order and giving her address, she rested her hand on the back of his neck, her fingers teasing through his hair.  He kissed her cheek, moving closer to her, his breath finding its way to her ear.  He was really, really close, one hand now on her waist.  

She tilted her head against his and this was the moment that she felt, most of all, that they were a couple. She was with him in her kitchen, ordering takeaway with his hands on her and the heat of his skin pouring off and onto hers.  She wrapped her arm all the way around his neck, repressing the urge to throw the phone out of the kitchen and snog him within an inch of his life.  She thought, absently, that the waiting for that might not be as long as she had thought.  

She hung up the phone and he pulled back, his fringe brushing her forehead. "How long, then?"

"About twenty minutes. I live pretty close to the chippy. They're very convenient to have on speed dial."

"Of course," he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.  "That's quite fast."

"Quite."

They looked at each other, of course, both wanting something that they weren't sure they should be the first to take.  She stroked her hand through his hair and picked up her wine glass again.  She realized her knees were by his hips, and she was effectively closing him in, keeping him close, and if she wanted, she could push her feet on the backs of his thighs to draw him closer. 

"Ready for another toast?"

"I don't plan on getting drunk, Mr. Smith," she said primly, "But it does seem that you have brought the most fantastic wine I have ever tasted."

"It's a good idea to save some for later," he said, "Let it chill in the fridge, for later, for memories of a night not quite hazy enough to be forgotten." he looked at her carefully. "I don't want to forget, Rose."

She smiled. "Me either.  To not forgetting, then," she raised her glass and he toasted with her, keeping much closer to her face than he had before as he drank. 

As it happened, they chatted quietly with one another, still sitting there and sipping at their glasses, talking about this and that.  He spoke of Jenny very very briefly, as though sensing that bringing up his daughter was not the appropriate mood for this sort of relationship, that was blooming, or trying desperately to bloom, but having trouble because both parties were just so hesitant. 

The knocking at her door made them jolt apart and Rose finally slid off the counter, with John's help, as though she couldn't quite manage it herself. She grinned up at him and answered the door, paying the delivery man and giving him a generous tip, before bringing the bag into the kitchen again. 

"Sorry, I don't have a dining room," she looked over at the tiny table and two chairs in the corner of her kitchen.  "We can eat on the sofa though, if you like, I've got no weird objections to that or anything."

"Oh, that's just fine," he said. 

The chips were in throw-away baskets, wrapped in newspaper (As chips ought to be, Rose thought) and they settled onto her couch, one of her legs tucked up next to her and their glasses on the coffee table.

"So, you've been to America," he said, "And where else?"

She wrinkled her nose, "Cardiff," she said, "Been to Scotland, once.  I think America is the most exciting place I've been."

"Anywhere can be exciting if you look for the right things," he said.

"Maybe you'll have to go with me next time, then," she said, noting the flirtatious tone in her own voice as she grinned over glass at him before taking a sip.

"I wouldn't mind that in the least," he said passionately, sounding like for all the world, the only thing he wanted was to travel with her. It was a nice thought, and she'd like to think it was real, and so she did. 

The empty baskets moved to the coffee table, and their glasses were empty and refilled, but only halfway, because both John and Rose were intent on remembering what they were doing, what they had done, and what they were about to do.

Although, there was something to be said about how awake she was, how her mind was abuzz with something like confidence that she wasn't sure she ever felt on a regular basis.  He was holding her hand in both of his, his thumb stroking over hers.  She set her wine glass on the table and he watched her, as though sensing that she was about to do something. 

"John," she said, even though she already had his full attention.  She had moved closer to him, but she wasn't sure when it had happened.  She had one free hand and she thought about all the things that that free hand was capable of, what it could do. She chewed her bottom lip and waited for him to answer.

He raised his eyebrows and regarded her carefully. "Yes?"  

She sat up on her knees and brought her free hand up to cup his cheek. His eyes fell shut instantly and he released her hand in favor of holding her waist.  She took her newly released hand and placed it opposite her other one so she was framing his face with her palms. In all honestly, it looked like her hands belonged there, on him, the pale of her skin offsetting his freckles.

God, he had a lot of freckles.  She wanted to count all of them.  So she set about doing that by kissing them, starting up at his forehead and making her way to his temple and down to the right side of his mouth.

"Rose," he groaned, tugging her closer to him so that she tumbled into his lap, her legs straddling his. 

It was a plea, a cry for something she had wanted for longer than she was entirely willing to admit.  Submitting to the will of the man in front of her, eyes closed because he _trusted_ her, not because he couldn't keep them open... She leaned forward and kissed him.


	11. Chapter 11

John gasped so loudly when she kissed him that she reeled back and tried to climb off his lap.  He grabbed her waist, fingers digging into her shirt, tugging her back against him. She stared at him, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping.  There were no words, he pulled her up against him and kissed her, much harder than she had gone about kissing him. 

He kissed her with a hunger that she couldn't understand, but one that she felt she could relate to, if not get entirely.  She cupped his cheeks in her hands and let his mouth move over hers with whatever ferocity he wanted.  Apparently, that was a lot, like he'd been waiting an eternity to kiss her. A very romantic part of her thought that maybe he had.

"Rose," he mumbled her name against her mouth, sounding breathless and she had to pull away from him because she was starting to get lightheaded.  He didn't stop though, continued to kiss her, down her neck to her collarbone.  One of his hands sneaked up the back of her shirt and curled against her skin, and she gasped at the contact. 

"Hello," she murmured when he finally looked up at her.  He beamed, a smile so bright it could shatter universes, she was sure of it. 

"Hello," He replied happily, bouncing her on his lap and making her laugh.  "In case you didn't notice, I'm rather fond of you."

She scooted closer to him, knees past his hips. "I noticed," she told him smugly, "Do you have anywhere to be tomorrow?"

"I don't have to pick Jenny up till one."

"So you could stay?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"Do you _want_ to stay?" She asked carefully, not wanting to pressure him if that wasn't what he wanted.  She did want him to stay, she really, really wanted him to stay.  But only if he wanted to stay too.

"Yes," he responded, eyes dark and voice low.  She swallowed hard.  

She slid her hands into his hair, tilting his head just the way she wanted. "Good.  Because I was going to be quite cross with you if you didn't."  She wanted him to make the choice though.  "So what do you want to do tonight?"

He grinned wickedly, running his hands up, so that both of them were under her shirt.  "I was thinking we could watch a movie," he leaned forward and nipped at her neck, "Have some chocolate," he licked down to her collarbone, "And go to bed."

"Um, are you sure you've got those in the right order, there?" She asked carefully, not wanting to offend him.  

He chuckled and leaned back to look at her. "Rose, the second we... Well..." he blushed a little and looked away from her, "I think I'd just... Fall asleep.  And I don't want to waste a second of tonight with you."

That thought made her heart lurch with affection for him.  She kissed him again, lightly this time, and looked at him again. "I think you might be the sweetest man in the universe."

"Or you're just the first one that feels like putting up with me," he said, smiling timidly.

"Are you kidding?  There are girls probably falling over themselves at your lab trying to get to you." She tried not to sound too jealous.

He grinned. "That's not quite true. They think I'm annoying. Why do you think I've been single for so long?"

"Not anymore," she said, without really thinking, and then blushed, realizing what she said.  "I mean... Um, that is-"

"Are you asking me to be your boyfriend, Rose Tyler?" he asked, amusement in his voice. The fingers of his upper hand massaged into her back and tried to relax her. 

"Ugh, that makes it sound so juvenile." She said softly, trying not to tell him that that was _exactly_ what she wanted from him.  Something exclusive and real.  She wanted to belong to him and she wanted him to belong to her.  She didn't stop looking at him though, and she didn't think that she could if she wanted to. 

He pulled her forward so her chest was pressed against his. "What do you want me to be, then?  Your man?  Your significant other? Your better half? Lover?" he nosed his way down her neck as he said the last two and she groaned at the mere thought of that.

"You just said you wanted to watch a movie first," she said, her hands gripping his hair in a nearly violent fashion.

"Yeah, I did, but a little making out never hurt anyone," he said, lifting his face and kissing her deeply.  It started a little delicate, but his tongue brushed against her lip and then suddenly, all bets were off as she clenched her legs around him and let her mouth open to him.  She slid her hands from his hair to around his neck, squeezing him closer.  

It was difficult for her to admit that this was what she wanted, this physical affection as well as the emotional attraction she held for him. She found that she wanted to take care of him and love him all the time, but she also wanted to snog him well into the morning, which he was very willing to give her. 

He stood up, with her still wrapped around his waist, and laid her down on the couch longways, crawling over her, kissing up from her sternum back to her mouth. She wrapped her legs around him and let him kiss her just how he liked, which turned out to be possessive and absolutely wonderful.  

She had never been so owned by just a kiss.  Her world turned on its head and she was dizzy in the most wonderful way. He didn't stop, seemed to be possessed by her, and finally pulled away with a groan before burying his face in her neck, nipping and sucking at the skin there. 

Rose let her eyes stay shut against his onslaught, even though she wanted to look at him, and let him do what he wanted. Finally, after several minutes of glorious assault, he just laid down on top of her, cuddling against her.  She giggled and tickled his sides. he grunted and shifted but didn't move from on top of her.  She tickled him again.

"Stop it."

"No, I've finally got you close to me, I'm not going to let you get too far."

"Stop _tickling me. Rose."_

She laughed lightly and pressed a kiss to his temple. "I didn't know you were ticklish at all."

"Well, I am."

"You wanted to watch a movie," she reminded him a few minutes later, when he was still laying on top of her, not moving. 

"You're right," he said, "Pull up something."

He sat up and tugged her into a sitting position as well.  She sat before him, smiling at him like she could do that forever.  "What do you wanna watch then, John?"

"I want to watch whatever you want to watch," he replied.

"Not what I meant."

"Well, you asked," he told her, shaking a finger at her.  He trailed his fingers along her jaw.  He was silent for a moment, the teasing note leaving his face. "I have wanted to touch you for so long."

She bit her lip and tilted her head into his hand.  "I didn't know you felt that way about me."

He made a face at her.  "You're quite lovely.  You care about education.  You care about my daughter.  I can't think of a better woman to spend my time with."

That made her heart swell.  He was so honest, and she knew that took a lot for him to say.  She sighed.  "Well, it helps that you're dead gorgeous."

"Oi. I also have a winning personality."

"Oh, of course."  She smiled at him.  "I wasn't quite stalking you, but I was... Intrigued by you."

"Thank God," he said, kissing her again, but chastely this time.

Rose went to pick up a movie from the cabinet, a Lord of the Rings film that she hadn't seen in quite some time.  He let out an 'ooh' when he saw it and she crawled up next to him on the couch after putting the film in.

"Sure you wanna watch the film first?" She asked as she popped the recliner and pulled her afghan over both of them.  

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tucking her even closer against him.  They were staring a cushion, incredibly close now, almost too close, her leg thrown over his.  She tilted her head up and kissed his jaw, listening happily to the little sigh he let out after she did so.

"Rose. I meant what I said. I want to spend every moment I can with you.  And I'm not going to miss a moment of it because I can't control my... _Desires."_

She giggled at the way he said 'desires', like it was a disgusting curse word that he had no right to say.  "Well, I wouldn't be angry with you if that's how you were.  Out of control, that is."

"Of course you wouldn't," he sighed pathetically. "You know, Rose, I think you might just be the death of me."

"Oh."

"I didn't say I wasn't going to like it. I'll definitely like it." 

They turned on the movie and they cuddled under the afghan, warm and content, and Rose had to think that perhaps she was the happiest she had ever been in her whole life.  She was completely caught up in him, the scent of his cologne, the way his chest rose and fell under her cheek. She loved the touch of him, the way he was so gentle with her, like he was afraid if he touched her too strongly she'd shoot off the couch and away from him. 

Of course, he didn't want to scare her off.  She could really tell that just from his heart pounding under her cheek.  It was beautiful, this moment, and she wished she could witness it as a third party. What did they look like, tangled up together, their fingers laced together and laying on his stomach. 

She realized, for the very first time, that there was a strong possibility that she was falling in love with him.  She knew there were parts of him that were difficult and would continue to be so, but there was so much more that made him worth it.  He was worth it.  She could only hope that somewhere in himself, he felt the same thing about her.

After an hour and a half of the movie, Rose slid her leg up to his hips and started kissing his neck. 

"Rose, you're killing me."

"You wanted chocolate?"

"To _hell_ with chocolate."  He rolled her over and kissed her harshly, his mouth nearly devouring her.  She wrapped her arms around him, not wanting to let him go ever, under any circumstances.  She reached over his back and grabbed at the bottom of his shirt, tugging it upwards.  He separated from her just long enough to tug his shirt over his head before he pounced on her again. 

"Your turn," he gasped against her mouth.

"Don't you think we should move this?" she asked, her eyes crossing slightly as he leaned down and bit her neck. 

"Yeah, you might be right about that." he replied, laughing breathlessly.  "Come on, come on, up, up, up."

They pulled each other up, barely managing it, and stumbled down her hallway to her bedroom.  She slammed the door behind them and barely saw him through the dark of the room.  The glint in his eyes told her all she needed to know.  She jumped on him, wrapping her legs and arms around him, and tackled him onto the bed.

He held her very close for the next few hours, and cuddled her against him when they made their way under her covers, the droning of the movie still happening out in her living area, but she was not able to care about it at all.  She ran her fingers through the light dusting of hair on his chest.  

"I want to stay with you," she whispered against his skin.

"Good," he whispered back, running his hand through her hair over and over until there were no knots left there at all.  "Because I don't want you to leave."

He was right, and he drifted off to sleep.  And soon enough, she did too.


	12. Chapter 12

She woke up a couple hours later. It was still dark, and John was wrapped tightly around her, one of his hands threaded so intricately into her hair that she had a feeling she wasn't going anywhere, even if she wanted to.  Of course, though, she didn't.  She cuddled against him, rubbing her cheek on his chest.

"Rose?" he voice rumbled through her. 

She hummed happily, letting him know she was awake. She trailed her fingertips lightly across the arm that wasn't behind her head.  "Yes?"

"I'll be your boyfriend, if you want."

She giggled, and could tell he was smiling too, in the midst of the little joke they'd created for themselves.  "Oh, good.  Do I get to wear something of yours, then?"

"Of course.  Seems only fair.  Afraid I've only got the clothes on my back.  Er.  Well. Off my back, as the case may be."

Rose had to stifle another laugh.   "Of course."

"Christmas is coming, " he told her after another minute.  She nodded against his chest.

"Yeah, noticed.  The school's getting ready to put up all their decorations."

"And... And what are you doing, for Christmas?"  

"I'm going to my mum's," she said absently. "I'm all she's got, after my dad died."

"Oh," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Don't be," she said, sitting up to brace her forearm on his chest. "It's alright, I was just a baby.  You and Jenny could come with me, if you wanted. Unless you have your own plans."

John shook his head, pulling his fingers out of her hair and stroking them down her back. "No, I don't.  I don't really.... I'm not good at Christmas.  I just knew that I wanted to try, with you."

"Well, if you aren't too scared of meeting my mum, you can come over to hers."  She said, smiling.

He blinked. "That wouldn't be...  I don't want to intrude on your family, Rose, I can't, I couldn't."  He continued stroking her skin deadly. "I can't... It's the best holiday for family, and-"

"You and Jenny don't have any family," she whispered, "You should be with people on Christmas.  Has Jenny ever had a proper Christmas?" She asked the last softly, not wanting to overstep any bounds but having a feeling that all bounds had been stepped over anyway.

John shook his head, watching her closely and carefully.  "No," he said, "I buy her gifts, of course, and we have turkey and watch movies, but... It's not... She's a kid.  She needs more."

"Alright, well then, mum and I will give you more," she said, as though the whole thing was decided. 

"But you haven't... You haven't asked your mum."

"I don't need to ask my mum's permission to bring someone home. Besides, she loves to cook too much food.  You'll be doing us a favor."  she cupped his cheek in one hand, meeting his eyes through the darkness.  "Please?  Please, please come celebrate Christmas with us," She buried her face in his neck and started kissing him and he laughed, going right to her sides to tickle her.  She shrieked and scooted away from him.  He followed quickly, tackling her down onto the bed and kissing her deeply, the mood shifting but still playful.  

She didn't think she'd ever had a boyfriend that she could tease with the way she could with John.  He had such a good sense of humor and such a brilliant smile that she always wanted to tease him to the point where she could see it.  

Now, though, they weren't playing.  She kissed him and reveled in it, because it was now allowed.  She pulled away, gasping for air, and he nosed his way down her chest, kissing his way along. 

"John," she whispered.

"What?" He asked around her skin.

"Come here."

She felt in awe of the power she held over him, even though she didn't feel like she commanded him in any sense of the word. He followed her though, hovered back over her, and pressed gentle kisses to her forehead and cheeks, thoroughly worshiping her in the most pure way he could.  She closed her eyes, letting his affections run over her.

"John."

"Yes, Rose?"

She ran her hands into his air and tugged him down on top of her.  He chuckled and cuddled on top of her, rolling just so slightly to the side so that he wouldn't crush her underneath his weight. 

"Do you want to go get breakfast tomorrow?"

"I can _make_ you breakfast," he said, sounding completely insulted. 

"I suppose you can. I forgot all about that," she had, a hint of awe in her voice. 

"Oi," he mumbled, "Go to sleep."

She snuggled against him, listening to the thundering of his heart under her cheek and squeezing her eyes closed, wanting to hear it even closer. 

***

The next morning, Rose woke up with John spooned up behind her. He woke up a few moments after her, and sighed against the skin of her shoulder.  "Good morning," he rumbled.

"Good morning," she replied, turning over her shoulder to look him in the face.  He looked gorgeous, his hair tousled and his eyes heavy from sleep.  He rubbed his eye and smiled at her before leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. 

She rolled out of bed and threw on a dressing gown. "I believe you told me that you were going to make me breakfast," she said primly, tying the sash around her waist.

He just stared up at her and blinked.  He put one hand behind his head. "You know, if your bed wasn't so comfortable, maybe I would."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm _out_ of bed, so no reason for you to be in bed."

"Alright, then," he said, "You make a convincing argument."   He crawled out of her bed and threw on his pants and t-shirt, "I think you've earned that breakfast."

"I rather think so too," she said, and followed him out into the kitchen.

She expected things to be awkward, after everything that had happened the night before. But it wasn't.  He nudged her in the ribs with his elbow when he opened up her fridge, and she thumped him in response.  He chuckled and pulled out eggs and bread and then shuffled through her cupboards to find a can of beans. 

"Beans on toast for breakfast?" She asked him, arching her eyebrow. 

He grinned at her. "Rose Tyler, the most important thing is breakfast.  The _most important._ It's also very important to get protein into your body when you wake up. Keeps you from getting an upset stomach later on."

"How do you know that?"

He smiled sheepishly at her, "I used to have a lot of stomach aches."

She giggled and watched him cook, puttering about her kitchen and picking up two saucepans.  Growing bored, she crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, pressing kisses to his neck.  "Can I help?" She purred against his skin.

His breath hitched and she smiled smugly before he said, "Not like that.  That's just distracting. You scramble the eggs."

She tilted herself over his shoulder and pouted at him.  He rolled his eyes and kissed her before going back to what he was doing.  

"So you meant it?" She asked cautiously, "You'll come to Christmas with me and mum?  Both of you?"

He nodded, looking suddenly meek. "Yes," he said softly, "But only if she wants us to be there."

"She will," Rose promised, "If it's important to me, it's important to her," she cupped his cheek and stroked her thumb over the apple of his cheek.  "You're important to me."

He smiled and blushed a little at the undivided attention she was showing him.  He pulled out of her grasp and went about cooking.  She tutted at him and crossed her arms, leaning her hip against the counter, before shaking her head and going to scramble the eggs.  Once she'd mixed them into a bowl for him she kissed him on the cheek and slipped from the room, begging off that she had a couple phone calls to make before breakfast. 

John was so desperate to have her mother's approval for coming for Christmas, Rose figured she'd better get it. Jackie knew about John, of course, it would be impossible not to, at that point.  What she didn't know was that h had a daughter, and how far gone Rose was for him. 

Rose quietly shut her bedroom door and sat on the bed before dialing her mobile and pressing it to her ear. 

"Hello, love. Bit early for you to be calling, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Rose glanced at the clock.  Nine-thirty. Plenty of time for her to share just a bit more time with John before he had to go pick up Jenny. "I just needed to ask you something."

"Of course, sweetheart, what is it?" Jackie asked, and Rose could practically hear her getting comfortable wherever she was sitting.

Rose sighed, getting up the nerve to just spit it out.  "You know the bloke I've been talking about?"

"John?"

"Yeah.  I think things might be getting serious."

"Oh, Rose, that's wonderful news! So... What's the problem?"

"What? There's no problem."

"Then why did you call me about it, hm?"

Rose flopped back on her bed. "He doesn't have any family.  I want him to come to Christmas dinner with us... Him and his daughter."

There was a moment of silence on the other line as Jackie processed the information that Rose had so graciously lobbed at her at top speed.  She waited, her breath held, until Jackie finally said, quite carefully, "He has a daughter?"

"Adopted. Six years old, she's in my class."

"So he's not-"

"No, he's not married.  No secrets here," she said, thinking about just how few secrets there were between them, after last night. She cleared her throat.  "But even though she's gotten presents and the like, she's never had a proper Christmas, and that's just... Horrible, for a kid, you know?"

Jackie was quiet for a moment, but Rose could tell she wasn't angry. "Well, I'll have to meet him anyway," she said, "What better time than Christmas?"

Rose let out a harsh breath. "Oh, _thank you,_ mum.  I told him you'd be willing but he wanted so badly for me to ask you so I could make sure he wasn't inconveniencing you."

"Well, he's certainly not, nor is that little daughter of his.  I'll just have to make sure my cooking is extra good that day."

Rose smiled and happily rang off with her mum before getting up and getting properly dressed (Well, for a weekend, anyway) in a pair of jeans and a loose, worn hoodie.  When she padded her way out to the kitchen, John was already there, beaming away at her like a cat that had caught the canary. 

"Rose Tyler, here's breakfast!" He said, gesturing to the plates on her tiny table in the corner of the kitchen.

She laughed and crossed the room to him. "You make everything sound like a game show, don't you?" She asked teasingly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I suppose I do," he said, grinning down at her.  His smile fell suddenly. "That's alright, isn't it?  If it annoys you, I'll- I could-"

She pressed a finger to his lips and frowned.  "I don't want you to change a single thing about yourself, do you understand me?  I love it.  And thank you for making us breakfast."  She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before bounding over to the little table and sitting down. John was so lanky that his knees brushed hers under the table, but she couldn't be bothered to mind too terribly.  This was exactly what she wanted, after all.

Eventually, John had to get dressed and go pick Jenny up.  "I think I'll tell her we've plans for the holidays," he said, eyes twinkling at her. If he knew about her phone call, he wasn't letting on, not really.  

"You do that.  And don't you blow me off, mister."

"Wouldn't dream of it." He said, and gave her another kiss before he hurried out the door.

She thought there would be no repercussions for dating the father of one of her students. It would turn out that she was very wrong.


	13. Chapter 13

Rose walked into work several days later with a spring in her step.  It was about four days before Christmas break, and Jenny had been happier than ever at the prospect of having a real Christmas with the Tylers and her father.  Rose as well was happy to have a Christmas, and for giving the little girl something she had never had. Of course, Rose was also quite chuffed to be spending the holiday with John, as she was a bit arse over elbow for him.

Jenny skipped up to Rose's desk with a smile on her face.  "Hello, Miss Tyler!  Daddy wants to know when we should come over to Mrs. Tyler's flat."

Rose grinned.  Christmas Eve, five o' clock, and then you can come back the next morning bright and early.  And you'd better come in your pjs too, I think Santa likes it better that way."

"Yes, miss!" Jenny beamed, and skipped off to her desk.  Rose just smiled and went back to her work. Class wouldn't start for another seven minutes at least.

"Miss Tyler?" Sarah Jane spoke up from Rose's doorway.  Rose smiled, but her smile quickly faded when she saw the nervous look on Sarah Jane's face.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Could you come with me, please?  We have to speak with Principal Saxon," she said, "I've got a substitute here for your class."

Rose stood and straightened her skirt.  "Will this take long?"

"I expect that it might."

Rose brushed past the older lady that shuffled in to take a seat at her desk. Well, there's the substitute, then.  She shook herself and dismissed herself from the classroom.  Sarah Jane shut Rose's classroom door behind her and gave Rose a panicked look.

"What's going on here?" Rose demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Not here, we'll talk while we walk there.  I'm going to defend you."  She gave Rose's elbow a firm tug and Rose fell into step next to Sarah Jane, her posture still as defensive as she could bear to make it.

Rose tried not to burn with anger.  "So what's going on?"

Sarah Jane lowered her voice and turned to Rose with an anxious expression on her face.  "You've been seeing Mr. Smith."

"That's not a question."

"I know it isn't."

Rose furrowed her brows in anger.  "You encouraged me!  What did you do, tell the principal that I should be written up for it?"

"No!  Of course I didn't.  There is some concern among the parents that you might be giving Jenny special treatment because of your relationship with her father."

"I'm not!" Rose cried, before lowering her voice. "I'm not doing that.  That would destroy my integrity as a teacher."

Sarah Jane shook her head as they reached the main office.  "I know you aren't.  I don't think you would, and I support you with him. I think he makes you the happiest I've ever seen you, Rose.  That's why I want to get this whole thing cleared up.  Now."

Rose nodded, feeling her stomach sink.  Would they punish her for this?  Worse, would they tell her to stop seeing John?  Of all the things, she thought that might be the one she wouldn't be able to take.  She'd grown very attached to him, he felt like family, and just thinking about him made her heart burst with happiness.  She had little thoughts of a family, building a life with the Smiths.  That was all she wanted, now.  Of course, she still wanted to teach, and she had a feeling that John would be alright with her staying on with the school, but-

What was she doing?  She had already married herself off to him and it might be coming crashing down around her in that very moment. 

Sarah Jane preceded Rose into the office and marched her straight back to Principal Saxon's office.  She knocked on the partially opened door.  "Sarah Jane Smith and Rose Tyler to see you, sir."

"Come in," Principal Saxon said, his voice cold and dead, as it usually was.  When the two women entered, he put aside his paperwork. "Have a seat, ladies. I'd like to speak to you about something. I assume.  Ms. Smith has filled you in?" He said. 

Rose nodded as she sat down. "Yes, she has, but honestly, Principal Saxon, I don't see the problem.  I'm not showing any-"

"Be quiet," Principal Saxon said blandly.  "I think you may be showing signs of favoritism. Three parents have come to me within the past week."

"And why is my personal life any of their business?" She asked, tilting her chin up in defiance.

"Well, it isn't, not directly, at least.  But they say that Jenny speaks of you quite often."

"And what does she say that's so disconcerting?" Sarah Jane demanded, her eyes snapping.  "She's a child."

Principal Saxon leaned forward on his desk, lacing his fingers together on top of his paperwork.  "She says that Miss Tyler is going to be her new mum.  She says that you spend a lot of time with her father."

"And how does that... I don't understand the problem?" Rose said, scrunching her eyebrows together.  She's a kid, she hasn't _said_ I pay her more attention, has she?"

"No.  But that doesn't mean-"

Sarah Jane interrupted him, temper barely controlled, "To be quite honest with you, Principal Saxon, seems the parents here don't have a leg to stand on. Jenny is finally getting the life she deserves and you want to take it all away form her.  That's quite pathetic if you ask me."

"Well, I wasn't asking you, was I?" Principal Saxon snapped.

One of Sarah Jane's hands balled into a fist on the arm of the chair she sat in, and stared at Principal Saxon.  "Now, you listen here.  Rose has done nothing wrong. Jenny isn't scoring any higher than any of the students in Rose's classes, I've looked into that myself.  Rose has also not been speaking to Jenny more.  She's not entirely run by emotions, you know."

"I think you're making accusations." Rose said simply, "I've done nothing wrong.  Neither has Jenny.  She is a _child."_

"And what happens when the fairy tale ends with you and Dr. Smith, eh?" Principal Saxon arched an eyebrow.  "How will you treat Jenny then?"

Rose felt her mouth drop open.  "I can't believe that you would suggest I would treat her any differently if something were to happen.  Which it _won't."_

"So, you're very confident in this relationship."

Rose stiffened.  "Quite.  I have nothing to hide, because I'm not doing anything wrong.  I am rather fond of Dr. Smith _and_ his daughter, and they are fond of me.  Jenny's grades have remained remarkably consistent, not going up or down since Dr. Smith and I have become involved.  So, it's really not any of your business."

Sarah Jane nodded simply from next to Rose.  "She's right, Principal Saxon."

It seemed that Saxon realized he had backed himself into a corner.  He worked an angry muscle in his cheek.  "Miss Tyler, I'll be keeping my eye on you.  Anything happens that makes me think your judgement is impaired, and I'll put you on suspension.  Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Rose said through gritted teeth, throwing any pretenses of politeness out the window.  She stood up and walked out of the office without another word, absolute fury burning behind her eyes.  

Sarah Jane trailed her out of the office, falling into step beside her.  "That was absolutely ridiculous," she fumed.

"You're telling me," Rose replied.  "What am I supposed to do? Tell Jenny I can't talk to her in class anymore?"

"No," Sarah Jane said firmly.  "You do exactly what you've been doing," she stopped walking, forcing Rose to stop as well.  "Principal Saxon had no right to call you in like that, and I will back you up at any possible opportunity.  Don't you _dare_ think about doing anything differently."

Rose nodded, feeling a bit dejected.  Even Sarah Jane's words couldn't stop her from feeling shaken up for the rest of the day.

***

When John called her that night, she debated not answering it, but she couldn't do that.  So she answered the phone.  "Hello?"

"Hello.  Jenny tells me you got called down to the Principal's office today," John said.  He had a teasing note in his voice, but Rose could still feel the heaviness of worry under it.

Rose laughed.  "Yeah.  Got accused of some favoritism."

"Well, it can't be any of your students, since I'm your favorite," he said, and she smiled, understanding that he was just trying to make her feel better.  

"Well, the Principal said three parents came to him about how I liked Jenny more than the others and how I paid her more attention.  I'm not like that, though, even though we're- you know- I couldn't just- it's my job-"

"Rose.  I know.  I'm making sure you're okay." 

She slumped in her seat, wishing he was with her to hold her hand.  "I am.  Just a little irritated, is all."

"Oh, of course you are.  I am too.  I don't think Principal Saxon had a right to call you down and interrogate you about our relationship," he said fiercely.  "There was no call for it.  How you and I handle our lives is no business of the school's.  I don't believe it's affecting your work."

"Sarah Jane said the same thing."

"See?  Then it must be right."

She laughed again, feeling lighter than she had all day.  "Of course.  Why not?'

He chuckled.  "I wish I could come see you."

"Well, you need to be home at least one night a week," she teased him.

"You're right, of course," he said, "And it's quite nice to be home."

She looked around at her empty flat.  It was odd to be all by herself when she was used to seeing John a lot of the time.  "Yeah," She agreed.  "I'll see you soon, though, at mum's."

"I hope to see you before that."

"If you like."  he feigned disinterest but she could hear his cheerful tone and wasn't fooled by it for a minute.

She giggled. "You and Jenny could stop by for dinner tomorrow, if you want."

"You were my gracious hostess last time," he said, "I want to have you back here.  We'll have a movie night, family friendly, and you're allowed to play favorites."

She felt her heart flutter at the thought of it.  A cozy night with John and Jenny, sharing dinner and playing house.  She sighed happily.  "Of course, I'd like to," she said, "But it's still a bit uneven.  I've been to your place far more than you've been to mine."

"Oh, we'll even up the score," he said simply.  "Don't you worry.  But unfortunately Jenny has this awful habit of going to bed early."

Rose snorted and shook her head.  "How dare she."

"I know.  Terrible habit, really.  I'll have to break her of it.  We'll pick out the movie, you bring the recipe for dinner?"

"Sure. What time?"

"Six alright?"

"Six is perfect," she replied.

"Well, I'd keep you on the phone longer, but speaking of dinner, I've got to whip something else for myself and Jenny here."

Rose nodded, wincing when she realized he couldn't see her. "Yeah, of course.  I've got some work to catch up on."

"Don't forget to eat."

"I won't."

"Alright.  I'll see you tomorrow, love."

Her heart filled with warmth at the endearment.  It was new, that sort of talk, but she was really getting used to it and she liked it quite a lot.  She returned it when she could, either through text or over the phone, but found it was difficult to say such loving words in front of him when she could see his eyes.  She knew those words belonged to him, but she still had a bit of trouble telling him so.  She mentally called herself a chicken for it, than wondered if she'd been working around young children too long.

"Okay.  Goodbye, John."

"Bye, Rose."

She rang off and sighed, went about going to do her work.  She had papers to 'grade' and of course, she had to take care of dinner for herself too.  Her encounter with the principal still shook her, and she was afraid that he might call her down again, tell her she did something else, but right now?  All that mattered was what she was doing with her life.  And if what she was doing with her life was _building_ a life with John and Jenny, then that's what it was.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am alarmed at how excited I was to write the beginning of Christmas Eve for John, Rose, Jenny, and Jackie. I love Christmas! 
> 
> Still taking requests for ficmas AS WELL AS ideas for my next AU and non-AU fic. Enjoy!

 

 

Seemingly before she knew it, Rose was curled up on the couch with John next to her and Jenny between them.  She almost couldn’t remember when it had happened, or what she had done to get here. That was how time went with John, really.  Like it would never stop but to was also going all too fast. She loved that, but her mind was still fixating on her talk with Principal Saxon.  John’s hand in hers, rested above Jenny’s head, made her feel a bit better about it.

The three of them were all wrapped up in a blanket and Rose wasn’t surprised when Jenny’s chattering through ‘The Lion King’ ceased and she fell asleep.  The only sound was the tinkling of the Christmas lights in John's house.  He said it alarmed him that they made any noise at all but Rose said it was comforting.  She smiled down at Jenny but found herself still distracted.

“You’re still worried about the principal,” John said in a whisper that wasn’t quite a whisper.  Rose turned to face him and saw the concerned look on his face.  She nodded, forcing a smile to lessen what she was about to say.

“Of course I’m worried. I’m worried he’ll call you up, say you did something wrong.”

John frowned. “They can’t,” he said simply, “They can’t just take you away from me.”  He sounded very adamant about it and she was loath to deny that they were staying together, because if she had anything to say about it at all, they would be together for as long as possible.  Although, she was not planning on putting a label on it just yet.  But maybe it was about time it did. Was John her boyfriend?  Partner?  Something more serious or less serious?  She couldn’t decided and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to.  It would get too complicated and that was the absolute last thing that she wanted.  

“They can’t,” she agreed, “This doesn’t change anything, you know that, but it just makes me nervous, you know?  Like I didn’t do something I should have.  I don’t think I’ve been neglecting my students or my work, but-”

“Sh,” he cut her off, stroking her hand with his thumb. “Listen, you work hard, and you would know if something was off.  And nothing is.  Your work gets done on time, you take care of everything and have time to spare. And that time to spare allows for Jenny and I to fit in quite nicely into your life.  I just want the time that you can offer me, Rose.  That’s all, I promise.”  
She could’ve sworn she felt her heart melt when he said that. “I don’t squeeze you in,” she said, “I make time for you because I want to.  With you and Jenny both.  You have to know that.”

“And is that why the Principal thinks you’re neglecting your work?” He asked,arching an eyebrow.

She shrugged, “Maybe. I don’t know.  I can’t pretend to know, not really.  I wish I could. It would make things so much easier.  That man is evil.  I can’t understand his mind.”

“I don’t think that man’s mother loves him,” John sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face.  “He’s quite miserable.”

“You’re telling me.’

“But Sarah Jane was with you, and she backed you up. That’s good of her.” he reminded her, squeezing her fingers in his grasp. She smiled and nodded, happy that at least he was able to find that tiny silver lining.

“You’re right of course,’ she said, tilting her head.  “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” he said firmly, “I won’t let you.”

She blew out her cheeks and nodded, feeling a little bit better about the whole thing. He was easy to talk to, and quite mellow about it, but that wasn’t why she cared about him so much. It was just one of the many reasons she was glad another woman hadn’t snatched him up first.  She brought his hand to her lips and gave a smacking kiss to his knuckles.  He feigned disgust and made to pull his hand away from her. She giggled and released his hand, only for it to return to cup her cheek.  He smoothed his thumb over the swell of her cheek and smiled softly.  “You know, I think it would be rather hard for you to get rid of me if you tried.”

Rose smiled, “Good thing I’m not gonna try,” she said softly.  Her attention was drawn to Jenny, who was lying between them, her head on Rose’s lap and her feet in John’s.  Rose stroked her hair lightly, marveling at how this child could be hers, if only in image alone.  She had never thought about adopting, but John made her want to.

“She looks like you,” John said, voicing her thoughts on a whisper, and Rose wondered if he could read minds.  

Rose looked up at him. “She kind of does.”

They were whispering so quietly that Rose had to wonder how they were even able to hear each other.  He blew out a gentle sigh. “And she adores you.”

“I adore her.”

He smiled, a gentle thing that made her fall for him every time he used it on her.  “Yeah.  I’m glad you do.”

She wondered what made him think that she was so good just because she liked Jenny.  “You seem surprised by that,” she told him, addressing the matter head on because in the dark, with a kid’s movie playing in the background, it was so easy to be honest with him, and she hoped it was easy for him to be honest with her.

“Many women wouldn’t… With a child, they’d consider me… A lost cause.  Baggage.  But Jenny meant more to me than any of them did.  And now… You mean more to me than any of them.”

“Have we plateaued?” Rose teased, and John chuckled lightly and shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he admitted, “But I think I hold you and Jenny on the same level in my affections.  To varying degrees and in varying ways, of course, but I don’t…” he looked away from her, as though saying the words would be easier if he didn’t look at her, or make any sort of eye contact. “I don’t want to live without either of you.”

“I don’t want to live without either of you,” she whispered.

“Good, then we won’t,” he said firmly, looking back at her. “No matter what that damn Principal Saxon says about us, or you, or my daughter.  We stay together because we…”

“Because I think somehow, somewhere deep down, we need each other,” she said softly.  “I know I need you.”

John smiled, sliding his hand down from her cheek and letting his arm rest across the back of the couch. “Guess I’d better put her to bed. Don’t want her to wake up with a crick in her neck.”

“I should be going,” Rose said, looking at her watch.

“Wait for me, I’ll see you out,” he said, lifting his daughter and the blanket into his arms.  She watched him carry her upstairs and felt like a proper wife, somehow.  Like he would come back down, and they would finish the movie, and then they’d go upstairs and go to bed, exhausted, falling asleep wrapped up in each otehr.  She shook herself from that fantasy. She had to go home, and sleep alone in her own bed.  She put her shoes on and slipped her coat on, waiting by the door.  

John came thundering down the stairs, and it was a marvel that Jenny didn’t wake up from the noise.  He slipped on his Converse and gestured for her to precede him out the door.

“You’ll catch your death,” She warned him.

“I want to walk you to your car.”

“Can’t do that if you’re frozen to the spot.’

Regardless, he got his way and led her to her car, his hand wrapped around hers.  When they reached her car he pulled her into him, one hand holding hers, one on her waist under her coat.  

He nudged her nose with his and leaned in to kiss her, a slow, powerful thing that she was sure could set the world on fire.

“See you at Christmas,” he said breathlessly when he pulled away from her.

“Yeah,” she agreed.  She kissed him once more and he stepped back as she got into her car and pulled away.

*****

Christmas Eve came on a whirlwind day, and Rose had just managed scraping by, buying presents for Jenny, John, and her mum. Not easy on a teacher's salary, but she had money put away for Christmas and found that it was quite satisfying to do so.  After she wrapped up the gifts, they looked like she'd taken them to the store to wrap them, and that made her feel quite proud of herself.  She grinned and loaded them onto her duffle bag.  There were clothes thrown in there as well, as she usually stayed over with her mum on Christmas Eve.  She made sure she was all packed and ready before dressing for the night. 

 It wasn't necessarily a formal affair, but she wore a nice drapy top with her black leggings and a silver necklace that she was quite fond of. She fluffed her hair and touched up her makeup before throwing it into her bag and heading out the door. She made her way there and was not surprised to find that she was the first one there.  She walks up the steps to her mother's flat and is beyond hoping that John won't judge them for not having as much money as him. She already knows that he won't, that he is much too nice a man to judge on something so superficial.

Her mother was already a bit flushed with drink when she opened the door.  "Is your man coming soon, Rose?" She asked as Rose went to settle her duffle bag in her old room, on her old bed.  

"Yes, I expect so.  Him and his daughter are very punctual."

"You know, Rose," Jackie said when her daughter came back out into the living area.  "I'm proud of you.  You're sticking with him and his daughter, even though a child makes a relationship much, much tougher."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, well, I think it'll be worth it."

"Me too.  Now come help me finish up with this ham."

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Rose jumped.  "I'll go answer that," she said.

"Of course," Jackie said, winking.  Rose rolled her eyes and hurried out to the door.  She swung it open and grinned when she saw John standing there, looking quite happy with Jenny at his side.  He was wearing a brown pinstriped suit that did funny things to her insides but had paired it with his high top Converse.  Jenny was wearing a darling red dress with a white cardigan and Rose congratulated John mentally that he was able to dress the little girl.  John held a pile of home wrapped presents in his arms.  

"This is for you," he said, "And your mum.  And Jenny.  Um. For all of you, really."

"Happy Christmas, Miss Tyler!"

Rose got down to Jenny's level and pulled the little girl into a hug. "Happy Christmas, Jenny," she said happily.  "Go on inside, my mum wants to meet you."

Jenny scampered off and Rose got back to her feet and turned her attention back to John.  He was still standing in the doorway, looking bashful. He tapped his fingers against the bottom present, the biggest one, that she noted had her name on it.  

She smiled at his nervousness. "Okay, come on in and put them under the tree, I've got to put mine under too."  She grabbed John's arm. "Wait, what about Santa?" She whispered as Jenny and Jackie got very well acquainted. 

He winked at her.  "Santa has a couple trinkets up his sleeve. He knows that Dad handles the big guns."

She laughed and took some of the load off of him, leading him to where the tree was in the living room.  He set his gifts down under it and she set down the ones she was holding.  "I won't bring mine down till the middle of the night tonight," she said, "Don't want Jenny to see."

"Oh, of course not," he said solemnly. Then he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  "Hello."

She blushed a little, surprised at the display of affection, so close to where her mother was, but she felt emboldened by it and kissed him on the mouth.  "Happy Christmas, John."

"I have a feeling it's going to be."

She tugged him to his feet. "Well, aren't you excited to meet my mum?"

He blanched and swallowed hard. "I'll still...  It'll still be a good one."

 


	15. Chapter 15

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Tyler,” John said, smiling as he shook Jackie’s hand.

“Oh, you lump, I’ve heard so much about you and your lovely daughter from Rose here.”  She pulled John into a crushing mother bear hug that startled him so much his eyes bugged out and Jenny and Rose both muffled their laughter behind their hands. 

“Well, I think dinner’s just about ready, right mum?” Rose asked, raising her eyebrows purposely.  Jackie rolled her eyes and nodded, beckoning towards her tiny dining room.

“I’ll take your coats, then,” Rose said, holding her hand out and wiggling her fingers.  John shucked his suit coat and took Jenny’s fluffy white parka from her, and gave them to Rose.  

“Don’t you dare leave me alone here,” he said.

She winked at him. “I think she likes you,” she said happily. John made a strangled groan of anguish sound and Jenny giggled at it.  Rose sighed and shook her head at his dramatics and took their coats to her room.  She shoved her duffle under her bed and laid the coats on top of the covers.  She didn’t want Jenny to see the presents accidentally.

She crept out of her room more than walked, and listened to hear what was going on in the dining room.

“I hear you’re quite clever, John.”

“Ah.  Yes, I work in a lab… Chemistry and physics, mostly.”

“That is quite brilliant,” Jackie said, “But don’t think for a second that that makes you any better than my Rose.”

“Daddy’s friends say that he’s infatuated,” Jenny piped up and Rose bit her lip to keep from laughing.

She could tell that her mother wanted to interrogate John and was refraining from doing so simply because Jenny was there, and she was young and pure and not ready for the Tyler wrath that her mother had been so ready to show to any boyfriend that came her way.  This was different. This wasn’t the promise of a fling, to go out and have a shag and some fun. This was the promise of a family, settling down and knowingly starting something, right from the very beginning.

“Well, Jenny, I work with them, but I wouldn’t call them my friends,” John said, sounding uncomfortable, and Rose had a feeling that he was rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke the words. “I don’t think myself better than Rose, Mrs. Tyler.  Really, she’s better than me, if anything.  I’m quite fond of her, as is Jenny.”

“Oh, please, it’s Jackie,” Rose’s mum said simply. “Don’t you worry about that.  And I’m glad that the two of you care for my daughter so much.”

Rose took that moment to skip into the room and smiled at the three of them sitting there.  There was a spot next to John that Rose assumed was for her, and she sat down there. “Jackie, John, and Jenny,” She said, wrinkling her nose. “Awful lot of J’s, don’t you think?”

John laughed and his eyes lit up as he realized she was sitting next to him and smiling at him. “Yes, I suppose it is.  Quite the coincidence.”

She nudged his shoulder. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get to eating this. I helped, you know.”

“You did?” John feigned surprise.

“Oi,” She scolded him, “Mum, John is positively one of the most fantastic cooks I have ever met in my life.”

He colored deeply and adjusted his napkin in his lap.  “Well, I don’t know, I wouldn’t say… I mean I’m quite…. I’m alright, I suppose.”

“Dad makes spaghetti a lot.”

Rose heard Jackie’s chatter, but only barely, because her eyes zeroed in on the fact that he had rolled up the sleeves of his oxford, just above his elbows.  It was a bit warm in the room, due to the over being on and all, but she wasn’t sure she had ever seen this particular look from him.  Even if she had, it must have been before she realized just how attractive he was, because she still would have been terribly distracted.  She noted one of his hands resting on his lap and ran her fingers down his arm before taking his hand in hers, letting them rest on his knee.  He smiled over at her as though that was not something that was unacceptable to do in front of one’s mother.

Dinner went quite smoothly, if Rose was going to consider how hard it was for her mother to get used to new people.  Breaking a pattern, Jenny wasn’t tired after dinner and Jackie insisted they put on a Christmas movie to celebrate the next day before it even arrived.  Rose stood up and made to take her dish into the kitchen but was distracted by something at the window.  

“Snow!” She cried out, and put her plate back down, dashing out into the lounge.  Jenny followed, and Rose lifted the little girl up onto her hip so that she could look too.

“I don’t think I’ve seen snow like that in a long time,” Jackie said a little worriedly.  “It’s kind of heavy.”

“Oh,” John sounded disappointed. “I think we should get going then, don’t want to get caught in the storm.”

“Nonsense!” Rose said, turning over her shoulder to look at him. “Of course you’re staying. You can’t go out in this. And if a storm happens, you’ll just have to stay here anyway.”

“We don’t… We can’t put you out like that.”

“Of course you can,” Jackie said, “We’ve got enough room, and besides, saves us the trouble of worrying about you all night.”

Rose nodded in agreement and bounced Jenny on her hip once before setting her down. “Well, that’s that, you’ll have to stay with us, then.”

John smiled softly. “Where would you want me to sleep?  On the cou-”

“No, nonsense!” Jackie cried. “You and Rose can stay together, no law against it,” She put her hands on hips, “There’s no way we’re going to treat you as anything less than perfect guests.”

“Can I sleep in a pillow fort?” Jenny piped up, looking around excitedly at all the potential the Tyler living room had for such renovations.

“You’ll be cold, sweetheart,” John said softly.

Rose pushed him playfully. “She won’t.  I’ll give her a sweatshirt of mine to borrow to sleep in so she doesn’t have to wear her dress, and we’ve got enough blankets to cover up the whole British army.  John.” She readdressed his name so he would look at her again. “I want to help you both. Let us?”

He nodded and smiled, though it was a little tight. “I just…. No one has ever-”

“Well I am, so you needn’t worry about that anymore,” she said firmly, nodding to him as though that solved the whole thing.  And of course, it did.

The snow did get worse, and as it turned out, they didn’t watch a movie. They turned on every Christmas light in the flat and Rose, John, and Jenny built a pillow fort as Jackie made them hot chocolate and then watched them, nursing a glass of wine.  She prayed off to bed a couple hours later and Jenny curled up in her fort, in Rose’s high school sweatshirt and wrapped up in about a thousand blankets.  John watched her carefully, making sure she was alright, before standing up and taking Rose’s hand.

“I don’t want to inconvenience you,” He murmured, still looking fretful.  She rolled her eyes and leaned up to press a kiss to his forehead.

“I want you here,” she said softly, “Got it?”

He chuckled, “Think I do, yeah.”

As it turned out, Jackie left John a pair of her boyfriend’s pajamas, which made Rose’s nose wrinkle, but she supposed it was better than him having nothing. Though that wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, she thought to herself.

She changed and pulled her duffle bag, showing it to John. “Think I’ll go put out the presents while she’s asleep.”

“Oh, can you put these out?” John pulled out about seven presents from the pockets of his coat and Rose’s jaw dropped.

“Do you play Tetris in your pockets?  How is that possible?”

He merely shrugged but he was smiling quite proudly at her.  She rolled her eyes and took the presents from his hands, taking them all out to the living room.  She laid them out under the tree as silently as possible, not wanting to wake Jenny.  The girl was a hard sleeper, and that wasn’t a problem. She turned the lights off and drew the curtains, peering out and cringing as she realized if John and Jenny had left, they wouldn’t have made it back for Christmas.  She went back to her room and saw that he was sitting stiffly in her bed.  She shut the door behind herself and kicked off her slippers before turning off the light and getting under the covers.

“Relax,” she mumbled sleepily. “Go to sleep.”

He slid farther under the covers with her and stared at her, as though he couldn’t believe something. She didn’t know what it was that would have him in disbelief, so she made a face at him. He made one back and she reached out to poke him.  He squirmed away from her but that took his warm body with him so she slung an arm around his waist, cuddling into him.  He tilted her chin up and kissed her softly, slowly, like he hadn’t been able to in front of her mother, of course.  

She let him kiss her, sleepy though she was, but after several moments, had to pull away so she could rest her heavy head on his chest.

“Thank you, Rose, for inviting us,” he said softly.

“I wanted you here,” she said sleepily. “Very selfish on my part, really. Just didn’t want to spend a day like this without you.”

He squeezed her tightly to himself and nuzzled his nose into her temple.  “Of course. I didn't’ either.”

“Good.” She traced her fingers over the fabric of his pajama top, feeling his chest rise and fall between her skin.  She let her eyes flutter closed and she murmured into him, “I love you.”

His breath hitched and she winced, wondering if she’d done something wrong. She felt quite relieved when he bent his head to press a gentle kiss her temple. “I love you too,” he whispered it, as though if the universe found out, it would strike them both down for daring to be happy.  She pushed that thought away and hummed happily, cuddling closer to him as he warded off the cold.

They were awakened by Jenny flinging herself on top of them, causing Rose to wake up with the breath knocked out of her.  She gasped for air as John sat up and lifted Jenny off of her. "Are you alright, Rose?" he asked, touching her shoulder. 

She laughed and nodded, feeling her breath come back to her.  She sat up and moved to get up.  "What, did Christmas happen or something?"

Jenny nodded violently. "Yes!  Yes, Christmas!  Come on, come on, come on!"  She stumbled off the bed and shot out of the room like a shot.  John leaned over and kissed Rose before she could go too far, making her smile. 

"Good morning," He said, his voice low and gravelly with sleep. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas," She replied, and the two of them got up and went into the lounge, where Jackie was already making breakfast.  Rose beckoned for her to follow them into the lounge.

Jackie waved her off.  "You go ahead and start, I'll be right in."

Rose nodded and walked all the way into the lounge, where John was already handing Jenny her first present.  He turned around and pushed a box towards Rose, looking quite bashful. It made her feel quite warm inside and she sat down next to him.  She nudged him in the side. "Go on, pick something out for yourself then."

Jenny watched them anxiously as Rose put aside a present for her mother and turned back to John. She looked over at Jenny and felt her lip twitched but tried not to laugh. "Go on, Jenny."

She tore into the present and gasped when she saw what was inside. "This was just the doll I wanted!" She said excitedly.  

John looked over at Rose curiously. "Yes, Santa certainly did a good job on that one, dear."

Rose winked at him and gestured to him.  "Go on, you next.  This one isn't from Santa, I'm afraid."

John chuckled, "Well, that's alright.  Jenny, go on and pick your next one."  He opened his gift then, a lovely silver pocket watch. He gasped softly, much less aggressively than Jenny had done.  "Oh, Rose," he whispered, "This is beautiful."

"Do you like it?" She asked anxiously, "I was afraid you might think it was too much."

"No, Rose, I love it. Thank you."  He kissed her on the cheek and gestured for her to open hers. It was the large box she had seen the night before.  She cocked her eyebrow at him and opened it up.  Inside was a smaller box.  She opened that box and inside was yet another box.

"Oi, look at you, clever," she said, eyes sparkling with mirth.  

"Go on." 

She went through three more boxes before pulling out a tiny box that houses a gold bracelet with charms that appeared to represent different countries.  John shifted as Jenny dug around to pick the next present, and explained to her, "It's got a charm of every place I want to go traveling with you."

She felt her eyes prick with tears and she gave him a watery smile. "Oh, John," she said softly, and threw her arms around his neck before putting it on herself.  "It's lovely."

Jackie joined them then, with a mug of hot cocoa, and the four of them chattered happily and opened their presents together, exchanging happy thanks.  Jenny had never received so many presents and as a result, had never been quite so happy in her life.  The rest of the day was quite the same, and John and Jenny had to leave after the Queen's speech, with the roads finally clear, but it was quite enough time for John to admit how much he wanted to marry Rose.


	16. Chapter 16

"Miss Tyler, can I see you?"Principal Saxon stood in the doorway to Rose's classroom, well after the new year. She looked up from the book she had been reading to her students. "Sorry, Principal Saxon, can it wait? I've a class."

"I'm afraid it can't."

The children shifted uncomfortably and out of the corner of Rose's eye she saw Jenny slump down in her seat. She knew that Jenny would think this was her fault. This wasn't her fault, and she wanted to tell her that. Rose cocked her eyebrow. "Well, have you got me a sub?"

Sarah Jane entered the room, her face red, not with embarrassment, but with anger. Her hands were clenched in fists at her sides. She reached for the book in Rose's hand and in shock, Rose handed it over. "He did this so I couldn't stick up for you," Sarah Jane hissed, and Rose felt her heart drop. She was in trouble now.

"Okay," Rose said meekly, then put her sunny disposition back on. "Now, you all be good for Ms. Smith, yeah?'

"Yes, Miss Tyler." They all replied.

She walked from the classroom, her hands shaking, and Mr. Saxon shut her classroom door. "I have had enough of your poor decisions," Mr. Saxon said firmly.

Rose frowned, "I've done nothing wrong." She said, crossing her arms.

"Oh, but haven't you?" Mr. Saxon arched a brow at her, "Jenny spoke to her friends about her Christmas break."

"And how is that anybody's business?" Rose asked airily, trying not to sound nervous and wondering why on Earth Jenny would talk again after she knew what had happened last time. She waited for Saxon to answer her.

"Because kids talk. She talked to other kids, and they talked to their parents. The parents, in turn, came to me."

"It's none of their business what Jenny does on her break."

"Even when it's with you?"

"Even when it's with me," Rose said firmly. "Jenny is not doing any better or any worse than any other kid in my class. So how on Earth can you pretend that any relationship I'm having is ruining the education of the others?"

Saxon shook his head. "You had them over at your mother's flat for Christmas?"

"Yes. Still not your business."

"And you and John-"

"Again! None of your business!" Rose shouted. Saxon gave her a reproachful look, telling her to hush up, she could tell. She was about to say more when he beat her to it.

"I'm sick of hearing about your amorous escapades with Dr. Smith. If you can't control yourself-"

"You must have seen the storm, Principal Saxon. If you were anywhere near London you would've seen it. My mother doesn't make a whole lot of money, she has a small flat, and they needed to stay with us. They could've died out there." She was scowling now, and quite aware of it, but she didn't have a lot of control left. "John shared a bed with me because there was not room for him to be anywhere else, not because of the reasons you're suggesting. And frankly, my students' parents coming to you instead of me is quite hurtful."

"Well, it's not going to change, because they aren't going to go to you. After this school day, you are hereby suspended for ten days."

"For offering shelter to a family on Christmas Eve?" Rose shouted. Her voice echoed down the hall, but she was above apologizing for her behavior. She was above all of this. She didn't know what he expected her to do. "What do you want from me, Principal Saxon?" She asked. "This isn't against the rules, I'm not doing anything wrong."

Principal Saxon's mouth turned up into a wicked grin. "I decide what's wrong, Miss Tyler, not you. I'm a step, or two, or three above you on the proverbial food chain in this school. And if I say that when you come back, I reserve the right to fire you if you are still with Dr. Smith."

Rose blinked, the impact of his words hitting her like a punch to the jaw. "Are you saying that if I don't break up with him-"

"I'll terminate your employment here. And I will find out. From Jenny or Dr. Smith or you, I will find out if you have followed my instructions."

"You can't-"

"I can. Students don't need to know who their teachers are bedding and when and whose parent it is. They shouldn't even know that their teacher is with someone."

"It's not Jenny's fault she wanted to share about her Christmas break," Rose replied evenly, trying to keep from yelling again and finding it quite difficult. "I don't think she's done anything wrong in this."

Saxon shook his head. "I heard from a student's parent that Jenny told her daughter about how she woke the two of you up. She said it felt like a 'real family'." He rolled his eyes.

"She doesn't have a mother, Principal Saxon," Rose said darkly. "I can't imagine life without my mother, and she's never had one. Don't you think that she has the right to be excited to feel like she has one?"

"Oh, so now you're going to tell me that you love Dr. Smith and you would adopt Jenny just to make your fantasy of a family complete? Is that what you want?"

  
"That's exactly what I want. But, sorry, not only are you taking Jenny's happiness, you're taking mine. That's great. Really great."

"You just want me to feel back for you."

"No, I don't, because I know you never will. But you should know that it's not your place to ruin lives."

"Your suspension," he reminded her. "I want you to leave the moment the bell rings and not return for ten school days, do you understand me? Sarah Jane has agreed to teach your classes."

She realized there was no fighting this, that as much as she wanted things to be fixed, she couldn't do it from here. She ran a hand through her hair and nearly choked on the bile of having to follow the orders of someone that she genuinely despised with her whole being. She nodded, still looking at him, not giving him the satisfaction of breaking her spirit along with everything else. "Yes." She said, her voice strong and clear. "I understand."

She explained to the children, at the end of the day, that she was going on a little holiday from school. Of course, the children saw right through her. School had just gotten back, and they had heard some of the argument in the hallway. The children who had told their parents what Jenny had told them were feeling rather guilty in all of it. "Ms. Sarah Jane Smith will take over for me while I'm away. She's a very nice lady and I expect you to do your work for her as well as you would if that work were to be done for me, do you understand?" "Yes, Miss Tyler," the children replied, sounding dejected. Jenny looked to be the most dejected of all.

********

A knock on her door shook her from her self-pity, and she looked up from her cup of tea. She was in no mood to have visitors, nor was she in good condition for it, in her sweatpants and a loose tank top. She sighed as the knocking grew insistent. Finally deciding there was nothing else for it, she got to her feet and set her tea on the counter before crossing to the door and opening it.

"I love you."

She blinked. "Hello, John." He looked flustered, like he had just run here. He had come right from the office, she could tell, his lab coat still on over his suit. His tie was loose around his neck. She felt her lower lip tremble and she stepped away from the door to let him in. "I heard what happened," he said, coming in and taking off the lab coat, throwing it over a chair. "I don't want it to change anything."

"What am I supposed to do?" Rose demanded. "If... but I... I don't want to lose you, or Jenny. I don't-" She broke into tears, and he gathered her up quickly, squeezing around her back. He stroked her back with the palms of his hands.

"We'll find something to do," he said simply, "We'll figure this out.'

"I don't think we can, John, I don't know what to do anymore." She pressed her nose into the side of his neck and breathed in harshly.

He shivered. "Oi, none of that," he scolded her lightly, and she giggled in spite of herself. She wrapped her arms around him, as she had left them limp at her sides until then.

He hummed happily. "I asked them to tell me everything," he told her, "And... Principal Saxon told me that I needed to break things off with you."

"Is that what you're here for?"

"No, of course not," he scolded her, pushing her away from him, gripping her shoulders and staring at her. "Why would you think that?"

"Because then Jenny wouldn't feel so guilty, for what happened," Rose said.

"You think that I would pick one of you over the other?" John asked quietly. "It's past that now, don't you see? I can't choose one of you because I love both of you. You know that, of course you do." He cupped her cheek with one hand, the other still firmly fixed on her shoulder. "I don't want you to leave, I don't want to leave you, I want-" He clammed up then, his eyes opening wide.

Rose looked at him curiously. "What, John?" She asked softly, "What is it?"

"We'll figure something out," he said, deflecting."I'm not going to let anything happen to us.  I promise."

She shook her head. "You can't promise that, John, you can't."

"Yes, I can, and I have done.  What's the worst they can do to you?"

She looked away from him, almost unable to look at him at all, in those warm eyes that had turned out to mean so much to her.  "They're gonna sack me, John."

His next word was quiet, uncertain. "What?"

She nodded miserably. "Yeah."

"I thought it was just the suspension!" He cried, fury lighting his face. 

"If I come back after ten days and you and I aren't over they're gonna sack me.  That's what Principal Saxon told me."

John shook his head. "No, no that is _unacceptable._ We're not doing anything wrong."

"He said that students don't need to know who their teachers are bedding," she said softly, looking away from him again.

John released her and walked towards her kitchen, running his hands through his hair.  "I can't believe this. Now I'm not allowed to _want_ you.  Rose."  He turned and looked at her. "I love you. I'm _in_ love with you.  You are the most important woman in my life and I am not about to let you go."

She choked on a sob, not realizing that it had been coming.  "I don't want you to."

His own face twisted up at seeing her so distressed, so he walked to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her gently against him.  She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close, relishing in feeling him, warm and solid and real against her.  She didn't want to cry, but it was difficult not to. 

"Did you leave Jenny?" She asked.  

"No, she's with a sitter. I needed to see you."  He pulled back and looked at her, brows drawn in worry. 

"I'm alright."

"Clearly not."

"John."

"Rose, I'm serious."

Had Rose been the career driven woman she said she was, she would've pushed him away, begging him off and ending it, just as Principal Saxon had told her to do.  But Rose was not that woman.  Rose wanted John, and she wanted Jenny to be their daughter.  And she wanted children of her own.  She was so _confused_ on what to do, what to think, what to say.  But one thing she did know was that she didn't want to lose John.

"We'll have to tell Jenny she can't talk about us anymore."

"Done," John said decisively.  "The school won't hear a word about us."

He kissed her then, and she forgot that there was anything to be worried about.


	17. Chapter 17

John tried to spend as much time with Rose during her suspension as he could, but of course, that was quite difficult.  Jenny wanted to see Rose and John wasn't sure it would be a good idea. He didn't want to think that Principal Saxon was watching them, but he wouldn't put it past him. So when John did turn up at Rose's, it was because Jenny had a sitter.  

Rose was closed off, which scared him more than anything else in the world.  He didn't want to lose her. She had become too important to him.  On the fourth day of her suspension he invited her over while Jenny was in school.  He figured she would need some sort of distraction, and when she agreed, he had a feeling that he had been right.  

She knocked on the door and the second he opened it he kissed her.  "I love you."

She smiled at him. "Is that your new greeting for me?"

"I want to make sure you know."

Her smile turned watery and she hugged him. "I'm sorry I'm being so much trouble at the moment. I'm not like this usually."

He stroked a hand over her hair before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "It's natural for this to upset you. Nothing is wrong with how you are behaving or anything else you're doing. You are perfect."

She blushed and pulled away from him.  "What are you up to?"

"I won't tell you until after dinner."

"Well fine."

"I do have an idea, you know."

"I had a feeling you would," she said as she walked in, setting her purse down by her shoes as she kicked them off.  

"How are you feeling?" He asked, watching her carefully.

"I'm okay," she said, "I'm scared."

He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles.  "Rose, I have a plan to fix this, but right now, I want to have a beautiful lunch with you and talk about happy things that we _like_ and I want to get lost in you for a couple hours, alright?"

She smiled, feeling like she was in a fairy tale when he treated her like that.  She squeezed his fingers where they grasped hers.  "Okay," she whispered, "Of course."

He beamed at her and had already had a lunch prepared, Shepherd's Pie, which he hoped was alright, and he told her that.  She agreed that yes, it was quite alright, thank you.  They sat next to each other instead of across from each other and talked quietly to each other.  

When her plate was clean, she scooted her chair right up against his and threw her legs over his.  "Now, John, what's this all about?"  She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.  He dropped his fork on his plate and tugged her closer, his arms wrapped snugly around her waist.  

"I think I've found a better place to you, Rose."

She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Principal Saxon treats you like _garbage,_ Rose, and I won't stand for it.  My daughter only has to be there for a little while, but... you would have to be there for so much longer, and I don't want you to be.  So I've been looking into other elementary schools in the area, and did you know that there is a school closer to your flat than the one you currently work at?"

Rose blinked, surprised at how fast he was talking and at what he was saying.  he was suggesting something that she had never thought of before. Leaving her job filled her with no much insecurity that she barely knew what to say or how to say it. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times.

"John, I don't think I understand."

"I can try to find you a new job," he said, "I think I might have already found one, if that's the case."  He chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment or two.  "I want you to.... I want you to be happy, where you work. You deserve it, Rose.  You really do."

She shook her head. "You spoil me, John. It's just a job."

"A job that you will have to have until you're not working anymore."

There were so many things she wanted to tell him, like the fact that she would drop her job to raise Jenny full time, and kids of their own, if they had them, but she couldn't, wouldn't dare. That would certainly scare him off.  She cupped his cheek in one hand and stroked her thumb over the bone there. 

"You are very good to me," she said softly, "And you only want to help me, of course.  But what on Earth do you expect me to do?  Try and get another job in only, what, a week?  Give or take?"

He nodded earnestly. "Yes. If you don't in a week, I would support you, of course, seeing as it would be my fault if you didn't get a job."

"You can't be serious," she said, a little flustered.  There was no reason for him to pay for her if something went wrong.

"I am very serious," he said gravely, "I want you to have a perfect life. Perfect.  And it can't be perfect with Principal _bloody_ Saxon breathing down your neck about your life choices for the rest of your working life."

"I suppose he would," she said, "But those kids, John, I couldn't let them down. I can't leave the school floundering for another teacher. That would be irresponsible of me, don't you see that?"

"Of course I see that," he said, "And it's the fact that your heart is just so full of love that you wouldn't be able to let those kids go, even for a moment.  I understand that, I understand you, or at least, I like to think I do.  But those kids get to move on, they get to live past that school.  You won't."

She knew he was right, but it was a risk, and a big one.  But she had to admit to herself, as she stared into his earnest face, his eyes drawing her tightly in, that she wanted to take that risk. She wanted to be happy, at work and at home.  "I'm meeting Sarah Jane for tea tomorrow. I can discuss it with her then." 

He smoothed his hand up her back. "Yeah.  Okay.  That sounds good."

"And that was your surprise?" She asked, smiling a little.

"I thought your complete happiness would make you... I don't know... I thought it would be a good surprise."

"It is," she said earnestly, "I am... Very happy that you want me to be happy.  It makes me know that you were the right choice."

"Of course I am. Look at me."  

She laughed and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Maybe things would be alright after all.

"Do you want to watch a movie."

"A movie is a nighttime activity, let's do something else."

"Like what?"

"We should go on a nice long walk."

He made a face. "What for?"

"What, got a problem with exercise, have you?"

"If you recall, I'm a scientist. I'm quite good at standing still when I need to."

"That's what it is, I want a long, romantic walk, and you've got all that pent up energy that I-"

He leaned forward and kissed her soundly, one of his hands coming up to cup her cheek, fingers brushing into her hair.  She smiled against his mouth but didn't pull away from him even slightly.  She slid her hand from his cheek down to the back of his neck, drawing him closer.  He tugged her around the wait to keep her close, right where he wanted her. 

After a few moments, he broke away from her mouth and trailed burning kisses down her neck. "I love you," he murmured against her skin.

"I love you too," She replied in a hasty breath, too distracted to do much else, if she was quite honest.  Her eyes were closed and she could feel him looking at her, but she couldn't open her eyes to stare back at him. 

"I mean it," he whispered, "I really do love you."

That made her open her eyes.  "You are going to be the last man in my life. Do you understand me?"

She hadn't said what she meant explicitly, but John was so clever, and bragged about it so often, that it was quite fair of him to understand without her having to explain and murmur shyly what was going on in her mind.  

He beamed at her, "Brilliant," he said, and leaned in to kiss her again. She laughed but kissed him back, resisting the urge to shake her head at his giddiness. 

She would think later that perhaps it was just a ploy so that he wouldn't have to go on a walk, but as it turned out, they had much more fun staying in. 

Rose wondered if this man, this beautiful, perfect man, was dead set on turning into a hermit. It didn't even bother her that she didn't really mind if he was.

****

"Move schools?"

Sarah Jane's voice was thoughtful but not accusing.  Rational, like she always was.  She sipped her tea and looked out the window of the little shop they sat in, watching the people pass by on the street.  Hustle and bustle of life caught her attention for a few moments, and Rose tried to draw her back.  

"Yeah.  That way I won't be abused by Principal Saxon anymore."

Sarah Jane nodded. "Rose, I'm not going to tell you what to do."

Rose blanched, "Why not?"

She looked at her friend and laughed lightly, a happy sound that echoed through the shop but didn't draw unwanted attention.  "You want... Wait, don't you want me to do something specific?  I need a little help here."

"Did you talk to your mother?"

"No, she won't know what to do. She'll just yell about Principal Saxon, and that won't get either of us anywhere."  She sipped her tea. "I don't know what to do, so I'm asking you."

"Well I'm not going to tell you."

"Sarah _Jane."_

"Rose.  I'm serious. Talk it out with me.  Work through it yourself."

Rose took a deep breath, trying to do so.  "I want to be able to date who I want without the head of the school calling me down to yell at me."

"Good start," Sarah Jane said encouragingly.  

Feeling reassured by Sarah Jane's words, Rose spoke up again, "If Jenny isn't in my class, her talking about me wouldn't make anyone upset. But it would keep on my legacy for the kids I've taught for the first half of the year.  You know?"

"You don't want them to forget you," Sarah Jane said with realization that Rose herself wasn't sure she had had all the way yet. 

"Yeah," she replied softly, "I don't think I could bear it if they forgot me. I did my best to teach them, to leave a lasting impression, but then to leave halfway through the year?  It would destroy everything I've built."

"So what is your other option?"

"I don't have another one," she said, "I can't keep dating John and work at the school, because they'll sack me, and that is way worse than just resigning my position."

"Right."

"So I either have to break up with John or tell Jenny she can't talk about me anymore."

"Okay."

"And then once she's out of my class, I won't have to worry about it anymore, because she won't be my student, so I wouldn't be dating the father of my student," she trailed off.  "I just have to be quiet about everything for a little bit.  Jenny understands, I know she does."

"Yeah."

"I can do this. I can do one more year here, finish it out, and then if I still want to move, I can.  I can be with John and honor the promise I made to my students.  I can do both.  After this year... One more year.  I could settle down, if I wanted... With John... With Jenny, too.  Like a family."  She looked at Sarah Jane, looking for her input, before realizing that she had she had pretty much answered her own question. Sarah Jane smiled over her mug.

"Right in one, Miss Tyler."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read your comments on the last chapter, I hope this helps with some of the concerns about Jenny's responsibility level :) Sorry for the confusion, everyone, I hope I haven't disappointed you!

 Jenny had been quite dejected since her favorite teacher (and her second favorite person) had been rudely taken from her and suspended. She sat at dinner, stirring her pasta and not looking at her dad.

“Jenny?”

“Yeah?” She replied glumly.

“I know you're disappointed Rose isn't really teaching you anymore-”

“She's coming back!” Jenny yelled, and at her father’s cocked eyebrow, she lowered her head. “Sorry.”

He shook his head.  “You can't talk about me and Rose, Jenny. They'll take away her job if you do.”

She frowned. John had said the words gently, of course, but Jenny was young. She felt her bottom lip tremble and she nodded.

“Oh no, don't cry, what's that for?” John asked. He was a great dad, of course, but he did not know what to do with a cryung child, especially if it was his. “Jenny, you understand, don't you?”

“I know I shouldn't have talked,” Jenny said, “but you're happy.”

He smiled softly at her. “Yes, I am happy, but the rest of the world doesn't need to know that.”

“Yes they do!”

  
He supposed, in retrospect, that he should've known she would be excited for him to find someone who wanted him and was willing to accept the idea of a daughter. Rose was perfect, and both of them knew that. 

“No, Jenny. If the three of us are happy, that's all that matters. Do you understand that?”

“No!” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Miss Tyler makes you happy. I want to be happy. I want a mom.”

  
It struck him. She was bragging about Rose. It wasn't merely saying that her dad had a new girlfriend. She saw Rose as her mother, so it was bigger than that. He breathed out a sigh, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. 

“So you just wanted people to know we were happy? But why?”

“Because everyone should know when someone is happy,” she said simply, and John tried to keep his lip from twitching. She was dead serious. It would do him no good to laugh at her.

  
He shook his head. “Jenny, you don't have to announce when you're happy. Especially when it could get someone else in trouble. You need to just… be happy, and show people that way.”

She gave him her best scowl, which in truth, was not very good. “How does my happy get Rose in trouble?”

  
“Because it's Rose’s happy too, and mine.” He said. He was fighting to explain this in words she could understand, words that could keep Rose employed. He didn't want to make this a task for her, and Rose was taking a risk, they both knew that, but it was what she wanted and so John would let her. It was her job after all. 

  
But that meant if she got sacked, she had a backup plan. It struck him, quite forcefully, that he was her backup plan. This. A family. He found himself selfishly hoping that she would get sacked, so he could propose. He blinked. He wasn't sure where that had come from. He tried to return his attention to Jenny, not sure when he had gone so far off.  “Our happy is our happy. I don't want to give this to anyone else, okay? It'll get Rose in trouble, and you don't want that, do you?”

Jenny shook her head nearly violently. “I told someone about Christmas break and she told her mom and her mom told the principal and-” she broke off into heart wrenching sobs, and John was at quite a loss as to what to do. He got up from his seat and knelt down next to her chair.

“Jenny, I'm not angry with you, alright? The principal just said some mean things to me and Rose. He told us that if we were still… Happy by the time her suspension was over, they'd take her job away.”

“Principal Saxon doesn't want you to be happy?” Jenny asked, her eyes wide.

John drew his daughter close, feeling how fragile and small she was. How had he missed that? How had he raised a child without a mother. He sighed as she continued to cry. “No, it would seem Principal Saxon does not want us to be happy, Jenny. So you'll have to be quiet.”

Her sobs had quieted, and she mumbled into his shoulder, “okay.”

“But if you can't, I won't be mad at you,” John told her, “that's okay too.”

“Are you for really?” She asked, and he had to think for a moment to try and figure out what she had meant by that.

“Yes, I'm for really, and I'm sure Rose feels the same way. Do you want me to wash your face before we finish dinner?”

She shook her head and pulled back, rubbing her eyes. “No. I'm okay.”

*****

Truth be told, Rose was having many of the same thoughts that John was having. She realized that when she was having her talk with Sarah Jane, she wanted Jenny to blab.  She wanted to move schools, she just didn't want to quit. And Sarah Jane had assured her later, that no matter what, another school would not patronize her for it. It wasn't against the rules, after all, and it never had been.  She missed them, though, the night they took apart. John said he would talk to Jenny, and she crossed her fingers, almost hoping that whatever he told her wouldn't sink in.

She chewed her thumbnail as she sat in front of the Telly, trying to take her mind off of everything. John had wanted to have a talk with Jenny, she had respected that as well as understood it, seeing as she was mostly the reason they were having the conversation at all.

  
Somewhere deep inside herself, she couldn’t keep herself from blaming herself for everything that had happened. She should’ve just kept herself in check not fallen so hard for John, not let herself. But she had, and now there were consequences for it.  

  
Those consequences could be her job, if she wasn’t careful.  But, she told herself, maybe she was tired of being careful. Maybe she wanted to see what was left without quitting.   It was shameful, really.  But what she wanted was becoming so muddled that she could barely think straight. 

John wanted to travel with her.  He wanted to love her, keep her safe. It was something she had never experienced, such genuine feelings that wouldn’t fade easily within a day.  She knew without even admitting it to herself that whatever she had with John was permanent.  She loved him.  Of course, she could only hope that he would say the same about her, if given the chance.

Blowing out her cheeks, she lay back on her couch, staring up at the ceiling of her flat. Everything was growing so complicated, blowing out of proportion. She couldn’t have just met some bloke at a pub like all her friends did?  She had to shoot straight for settling down with the most intelligent man she had ever met in her life.  That just wasn’t fair.

He deserved better than her, she realized with a start. He deserved a woman who understood him, understood his work, and wanted to follow it. He deserved something so equal that he could have conversations that were intelligent and deep and challenging.  He couldn’t have that with her.

Now thoroughly distracted, she stood up and began pacing. This wasn’t right, none of it was. Jenny would probably grow up to be a little genius, because her dad was teaching her things when she was still young and like a sponge, sucking up any new information that she could have.  Rose was beyond that. Sure, she was clever, but she was nowhere near as clever as John was, and she never would be. That was never how she had been built.

She felt her heart pounding with anxiety.  Maybe what they had was permanent to her but not to him?  What if he grew tired of her, of banal conversations and kissing and the easy love it seemed that they shared?  She knew he wasn’t shallow enough to love her for her looks, but maybe it was only just beyond the surface layer. Maybe when she started to age, slow down, he would get rid of her, even though he would be aging as well.

She knew she was being ridiculous, but she had allowed her mind to get away from her.  There was no rhyme or reason to what she wanted anymore, no goals except to teach primary school and marry John Smith. To come home from work to help Jenny with her homework and cook dinner with John.  Someday, maybe she and John to have kids of their own. That was what she dreamed, and, she scolded herself, it was a very selfish dream indeed.

She wanted to know what John wanted from her.  Whether it was exactly what they had or something better, something closer, she was beginning to be afraid she’d never know.

And as luck would have it, just then, the phone rang, and there was only one person for it to be.

“She wasn’t telling everyone becasue she’s a kid.  She was thinking,” John said hurriedly.

“John, what are you talking about?” Rose asked, her mind still overwhelmed.  He was starting to confuse her and she’d only just picked up the phone.

“She told people about us because she’s proud. She finally has what she wanted.”

  
“What?”   
“A family.”

Rose blinked, “She has a family, she has you.”

“And you,” John said softly, “She thinks of you as her mum, Rose.  She wants you to be with us forever. That’s why she was telling people about Christmas break.  Because she saw us as… Well, as her parents.  The both of us.”

Rose felt tears creep into her eyes at that. Happy tears, of course, but tears nonetheless. “So is she going to.. Stop talking?”

“She doesn’t want to, but she will.”

“I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t be that mad if she didn’t stop.”

“You wouldn’t?”

“I’d find a way.”

“I know you would, you are quite brilliant, you know,” he told her, his smile evident through the phone, giving her no choice but to smile softly to herself.

“I want-” she bit her lip, thinking about her words. “I want to see you. Soon.”

“Of course,” he reassured her. “I’d like to see you too.”

  
She wanted to ask him how he saw their relationship, if Jenny already saw them as a married couple. Would he want that as badly as she did?  If he didn’t , how would she live with it. 

“When?” She asked, keeping the word tight and fast so as not to risk any mix ups.  She didn’t want him to think she was some sort of crazy, obsessive girlfriend that couldn’t spend any time without him. Of course she wasn’t. She just… She had a feeling that there was a reason spending time with him felt so good.  It wasn’t based on physical, though that part of it was quite nice, she was willing to admit that.

“Soon,” he promised. “We could go somewhere.  I could… You know what? Why don’t you just let me do the planning and I’ll get you. You can pack a weekend bag.”

“John, what about-”

“It’s not definitive, of course, the idea has just popped into my head, you know. But you’re still on suspension, you must be bored out of your mind, and I would like to make things a little better for you.”

“You already do.” she assured him.

“Well… Good. I’ll see you soon, then, give you a call, and all that.”

“I would like that.,”

“Good, because I”m going to do it.  Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you. I really do.”

Her chest blossomed with warmth. She would never tire of hearing him say those words to her.  Over the phone, whispered in her ear, it didn’t matter, so long as it always belonged to her.  “I love you too, John.”

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter!! Thank you guys for all the love on this one! It got away from me a bit, as I'm sure you can tell. I won't be able to write this weekend, which makes me so sad, but I'm sure you all understand! I've been working on ficmas and I think I might do a reunion fic for my next TenxRose story, if that's alright with you :) (Post Doomsday, not post Journey's End. I love Tentoo too much)
> 
> Alright! Enjoy! :)

As it turned out, Jenny screwed up.  And Rose was _delighted_ by it.  She was also delighted by her students' reactions.

It happened quite innocently, a slip of the tongue that made Rose want to weep with happiness.  Her second week back from her suspension, she had set them about making macaroni necklaces, and was helping out the kids who needed a bit of help with how to tie knots or how to get the macaroni  _on_ the string.  

Jenny was getting frustrated, as she had finished her necklace but couldn't nod it.  The class had just discussed 'please', 'thank you' and 'would you please', so there was nothing wrong when Jenny said "Could you please help me with this, mum?"

Except. 

Except that one little word that made Rose want to sweep Jenny up into her arms and squeeze the little girl until she couldn't see straight.  She turned to the girl, and Jenny's mouth dropped open.  She closed her mouth and her bottom lip started to tremble. Rose hurried over to her and squatted down next to her.  

"Jenny, look at me.  It's okay, it's okay," she took the macaroni necklace from Jenny.  "You want me to tie this for you?"

Jenny settled her hands in her lap and nodded miserably.  Rose patted her back and she tied the knot for the girl, barely missing her whisper. 

"Daddy is gonna be mad at me."

"No he won't," Rose proclaimed, "I promise he won't."  She handed her the necklace. "There you go, sweetheart."

Jenny murmured a thank you, and Rose handed her a tissue to dry her eyes.  "Go on, use this.  You haven't done anything wrong at all, do you understand me?"

She nodded and smiled weakly up at her teacher. 

"There we go, there's that smile," Rose said, "The rest of you, I can _feel_ you staring at me. Why don't you all go ahead and get back to work?"

*****

The next day, she heard what she had been expecting.

"Rose Tyler, to the Principal's Office."

It was more alarming over the speakers, and Rose had to wonder if this was what the kids at her school had felt like when this happened to them. Of course, Rose Tyler had never been called down to the principal's office while she was in school.  

She was surprised, however, when other teachers started leaving their classrooms.  She furrowed her brows.  They followed her silently.  Sarah Jane exited her classroom last, falling into step next to Rose.  Rose opened her mouth to ask a question several times, but she wasn't sure what she would be asking.  

"Barbara?" She asked the woman over her left shoulder. She just winked at her. 

They reached the principal's office, and by the time they did, every single teacher in the building stood behind or next to Rose Tyler.  She entered and they all followed her, crowding into the principal's office.  John was seated in one of the chairs in the office.  He turned around and looked at Rose, and then his eyes widened when he saw everyone else around her. He beamed at her like he was the most proud man in the universe.

"What is the meaning of all of this?" Principal Saxon demanded, "How?  What are you? Who is running your classes?"

"No one. And that's how it's going to stay if you fire Rose," Sarah Jane said coldly. 

"That's right," Ian Chesterton piped up, "We're not going to stand for this. Do you hear us?"

Princpal Saxon scoffed. "You're all bluffing!  All of you. Rose Tyler has-"

"Done nothing wrong?" Sarah Jane snapped. "That's right, she hasn't."

"We've all read the student handbook," Jamie said, "And the teacher handbook.  There isn't a single rule in there about dating the father or mother of a student.  Maybe you should read the thing for once, sir. It wouldn't kill you."

Romana nodded, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning onto her hip. "If she's fired, we all quit."

Principal Saxon got to his feet. "This is it, I will not stand for this, not in my school, do you understand me?  You're all just making this up!  You won't quit!  No one likes Miss Tyler that much, and if I say she's done something wrong, than she's done something wrong. It's not up to you! It's up to me!"

John got to his feet quietly and stood beside Rose.  He bent to kiss her on the cheek before taking her hand in his.  She felt her heart blossom with warmth even as it continued to pound quite wildly within her chest. 

"So, you really think we're bluffing?" Sarah Jane pulled a folded paper from her pocket and threw it on his desk. "There's my resignation."

Adric tossed hers next, than Jamie, Romana, Barbara, Ian, and all the others.  Principal Saxon sputtered as he recognized every single form was filled out, detailing the resignation of every single one of his teachers.  

"Let's go, then. Guess we'd better be off to a job fair," Sarah Jane said, sounding airy, "Good luck controlling seven hundred children in one building, Principal Saxon." 

The people around Rose started to leave, and she stood there frozen, her hand in John's. He held her firm and steady, and she stood there, waiting.

Principal Saxon stood, shocked, and finally called out, "Wait! Wait, wait, no, no, no, this isn't at _all_ how something like this is supposed to go."  He fell into his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose as the others returned, some with their arms crossed, others with their hands on their hips.  The anger in the air was evident. 

"Well?" Sarah Jane demanded. "What's it gonna be?"

He seemed to be trying to gather up his courage, and Mr. Saxon finally said, weakly, "Miss Tyler can stay. She has done nothing wrong."

The teachers were not above cheering, and Sarah Jane hugged her friend, glad that finally something had gone right for her. This was all they had wanted. One of their own to be safe.  It wasn't terribly hard to figure out that true love should be the thing to win.

"You listen to me, Principal Saxon," Rose said clearly, speaking for the first time, "That little girl deserves a mother, and you tried to take that from her.  And I won't let you.  And I also won't let you abuse your power any more, and neither will any of my friends here."  She released John's hand and stood closer to his desk, pressing her palms into the wood. "Got it?"

He raised his eyes slowly to hers, and while he wanted to be angry, he couldn't.  He didn't have any room left to do anything about her behavior.  There was too much against him now.  

"Got it," he said through gritted teeth.

Rose grinned. "Thank you. Now, I think I need to be going back to teach my class now.  Don't you?"

Without waiting for an answer, she walked through the crowd and into the hallway, where all the children stood, staring up at her, wide eyed.  She promptly burst into tears, but she couldn't stop smiling.  The teachers all embraced her and assured her that this was the end of Saxon's reign of terror.

And for the first time, it really truly was. 

*****

The ceremony was a beautiful thing. Jenny was the flower girl, and everyone there knew how incredibly special this wedding was.  All the teachers were there, of course, as well as one Jackie Tyler, who began bawling before Rose even walked down the aisle.  John had decided to work out his own nerves and give her a hug before trotting back up to the altar.  His sister, Donna, clumped up the stairs to the altar. 

"Your tie is crooked," she told him, adjusting the black tie.  "There!  That's better. Now, you, you never let this woman go, do you understand me? Don't do anything stupid."

"Of course not," John laughed. "Or at least, I'll try not to."

"Good," Donna smiled. "I'm happy for you."

The music started and John almost threw up.  Finally, after the groomsmen and bridesmaids and all the boring stuff, Rose appeared, in a proper ballgown, and she was _glowing._ She had never looked so happy, and she had never felt so happy.  She handed her flowers off to one of her friends and John took her hands.  

"You look lovely," he told her.

She smiled. "So do you," she said.  

The ceremony between Rose and John was reasonably short, but after that, something had to happen to bind them together. 

"Miss Tyler, soon to be Mrs. John Smith, it is your intent to adopt Jenny Smith as your legal daughter, in partnership with John Smith, to raise her as your own child?" 

"Yes," Rose said, and looked to where Jenny sat, next to Jackie, beaming away. 

"Now, you need only sign these papers."  

Rose signed the papers with a flourish and the crowd laughed and applauded.  Rose beamed over her shoulder and Jenny shot up the stairs to throw herself into Rose's arms.  The congregation applauded and Rose hugged the little girl until the pastor had to draw her back in.  She stood up and John took her hands again. She saw he was crying and reached up to wipe away his tears. 

"I'm so happy," he whispered. 

"Just you wait," She told him. "I'm gonna decorate your house."

"I hope you do."

The pastor continued, "Everyone, what you've just witnessed here is not just the joining of two people, but the joining of a family that has fought through many struggles to be here.  They are alive and well and will grow together. And finally, I pronounce you man and wife.  You may now kiss the bride."

If Rose played the moment in her head, she thought might be just a tad rough, for emphasis, but he wasn't. He stepped forward and cupped her cheek in his hand before leaning in and kissing her gently, reverently, like it was the only time he was ever going to get to kiss her. It almost brought tears to her eyes.  

He finally pulled away and the congregation cheered. The two of them walked out of the church, Jackie scooped up Jenny and set her on her hip, and they followed the couple out into happiness. 

The honeymoon, of course, was without Jenny. Jackie took her in for the week they spent in St. Ives.  Rose lay in bed the first morning of their marriage, hearing the ocean and staring at her hand, adorned in two rings, both given to her by John. 

"Let me see your hand," she whispered.  he chuckled and wrestled his hand out from under her and displayed his wedding ring for her to see.  She darted forward and kissed his knuckle.  In retaliation, he grabbed her hand and kissed it.  Things escalated rather quickly until Rose was on her back and John sat over her, holding her hand in his. 

"What are you looking at me like that for?" She asked. 

"Look at that," he said, "I'm married."

"You are."

"I have a wife."

"Yep."

"Jenny has a mum."

"Yes, she does."

John looked at her seriously, and leaned down and kissed her gently, deeply.  "Rose Tyler Smith, you are everything that I have ever wanted.  Even though I didn't know I wanted it."

She had no words, no way to tell him how much he meant to her.  She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he breathed heavily into her shoulder.  One of his hands skimmed up and down her back, and then finally, he whispered something she hadn't been expecting at all after such a moment.

"Rose?"

"Yes, love?"

"Do you want to go to the pool this morning?  I hear the hotel has a really great one."

Rose giggled and pulled back to look him in the face. She beamed at him and nodded.  "As long as it's with you, anywhere."

The traditional happily ever after does not give the princess a job at a school in London, nor does it make her an instant mother.  But it is _exactly_ the happily ever after Rose Tyler wants, and that's what she gets. 

And John asked for it too, if he was honest.  Hoped for a woman like Rose his whole life. 

And Jenny prayed for a mum.

So really, the only one who loses is Principal Saxon, Rose thought to herself. 

And that was _just fine._

Better than fine. 

John, Rose, and Jenny Smith.  Yes.  Those were named that belonged on family Christmas cards. 

And if there was one substance not able to run out, it was the love that held the Smith family together.  Absolutely forever.


End file.
